TEACHERS' DUTIES

Evening Post, Volume CI, Issue 111, 11 May 1921, Page 9

TEACHERS' DUTIES

IN TECHNICAL COLLEGES

SALARIES AND HOURS;

Questions of internal administration, such as salaries, allowances; hours, staffing, and duties in the technical colleges of the Dominion, occupied the greater part of the proceedings of the Technical Education Conference yesterday afternoon. Mr. J. E. Newton (Napier), president, was in the chair.

The conference adopted remits asking the Education Department to increase the maximum salaries in the second division of the first schedule by £50 for both men and .women ; to increase overtime rates of pay for full-time teachers; to make a special allowance as in secondary schools to the senior mistress in a mixed school containing more than 75 girls. -

On the question of hours there was considerable discussion as to the limitation of hours in actual teaching to 25 weekly, as proposed by remits from Wellington and Timaru. The maximum time of weekly service was proposed at 30 hours over a period of 40 weeks in the year. Representatives of the Technical Teachers'' Association stood pat on the 25-hour limit as opposed) by one or two speakers, who urged 26 hours as the period.

Mr. W. S. La- Trobe, Supervisor of Technical Education, said it should not be necessary to wrangle about an hour or a half-hour. It was not in keeping with the dignity of the profession. .

The conference adopted the Wellington remit that the Department be asked to lessen the actual teaching hours, for teachors in science, mathematics, languages, and book-keeping, before overtime is. counted, to 25 weekly.

A Timaru remit limiting the general hours to 25 was withdrawn.

Whether the time spent at physical and military drill and at school games by teachers selected for this work should be counted as teaching time was a question that roused opposition to a remit embodying such a recommendation to the iDepartment. . ' ' .

Mr. A. Gray (Hawera) said the proposal would do very serious harm to the status of the teaching profession. If the pupils leafnt that the teachers were paid overtime for coaching in. football they would not think much of them.

The remit was lost on the voices.

The conference decided also to ask the Department to lessen the average number of pupils for teachers from 28 to 25; make the payment provided for studentteachere at least equal to that of probationers in primary schools in the case of those training full time in technical schools; and to increase considerably the rates in other cases; increase the allowance for incidental expenses beyond 26 per cent, of teachers' salaries. ■ The conference reaffirmed' its former resolutions that technical-school teachers should be granted direct representation on the Council of Education. Other remits reaffirmed were: — That where a Board of Managers has already been constituted and appointed to a technical school under the provisions of the Act, this conference presses ,upon the Government the desirability of placing the full administration of the technical school, snbject only to the Education Department, in the hands of that board. ' , Pending any wide re-organi«ation. of our : system of educational administration, it is the opinion of this conference that the administration of any technical school -where there is an organised day school should be placed in charge of a board specially, appointed for that purpose. That there be apportioned, to technical education a fair share of new 'endowments and of any endowments which may be redistributed. That provision be made for the payment of reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred by members of Technical School Boards.