SIZE OF SCHOOLS

Evening Post, Volume CI, Issue 113, 13 May 1921, Page 7

SIZE OF SCHOOLS

PROPORTIONAL INCREASES.

"That the salaries of'principals should increase in proportion to the size of a school from Grade XIX. to XXX,"; and "that heads of departments should be increased in proportion to the size of the school from Grade XIX. to XXX," were two remits placed before the Secondary Schools' Conference by Wellington Girls' College delegates, but for them there was not a great deal of support. Mr. R. M>, Laing suggested that a headmaster was unable to have personal knowledge of all the de-' partments in a school of more than. 600 pupils. Tho administration of thes^ departments must bo assigned to fho assistants, and it was, apparently because the Department recognised this that it had refused to raise tho grades and the salaries of headmasters and assistants in schools of more than 600 pupils, but gave the same salaries to principals in all schools of 600 or more.

Mr. Strachan contended thaj; the basis of grading on the roll number' was wrong. It meant that the ambition of every teacher would be to become the headmaster of a city school. The regulations should be so framed, ho thought, to induce teachers to devote their work to rural schools. Ho also pointed out that in large schools a great deal of the work was shared by some of the assistants, inasmuch as they became heads of department?, whereas In the smaller schools the headmaster was a member1 of the teaching staff. Mr. tiresswell expressed agreement with Mr. Laing, stating that the regulations were iutended'to convey the idea that when a school had reached 600 or 650 in the number of pupils it had reached the maximum desirable. Rightly or wrongly, he thought that this was the idea :of the Departmental officials. That was his opinion ; the teacher who had a school of 650 had quite enough. Both remits were thrown out.