TEACHERS' LEAVE

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 41, 17 August 1923, Page 7

TEACHERS' LEAVE

TO STUDY FOR DEGREES

AUCKLAND BOARD SI niPATHETIO.

[»I IfXKRAFH.— BPICIAI 10 TK POII.)

AUCKLAND, 16th August. More applications have been received this year than last year, which shows that "the evil is growing," declared Mr. W. H. Newton, on behalf of a deputation from the Headmasters' Association, which waited on the Auckland Education Board yesterday on the question of granting leave of absence to teachers in order to enable them to study for degrees. These young people, proceeded Mr. Newton, went away on this leave at a time of year when the school work was of the utmost importance. Then strange teachers. came to relieve, and the classes suffered accordingly until the strangers became with the children and their work. Headmasters were not wanting in sympathy with the aspirations of teachers seeking to obtain degrees, but they had to look at the matter as it affected the schools and the children. " Years ago such aspirations were greatly discouraged'; now the pendulum had swung to the other extreme, and undue facilities were granted. If young teachers knew they could get leave when they wanted it, they would not give their own time for lectures, as they should, but leave a great deal of their work for the last few weeks prior to their examinations. Headmasters were noting that there was a tendency to put school work into a secondary place on the part of some of these aspiring young people, who, when they got their degrees, often passed out of the servioe and into other professions. In one case a teacher had been granted leave extending to a total of several months; on the other hand there was one teacher in the service who had graduated well without losing a day's teaching, although he had a far larger class than teachers in his grade had to-day. The chairman (Mr. £. C. Banks) expressed the opinion that the best teacher was the man trained in teaching who had also taken a degree. There was dearth of such men here, and they were wanted very badly, as there were some twenty district high schools in the board's jurisdiction, each of which should be in charge of a trained teacher with a degree. They also wanted "demen and women teachers for the secondary departments of the district high schools. Such men were comin» from, the South; they would have to produce them here. In any case there had never been more than ten applications for such leave out of 2000 teachers. They must encourage the youn°teachers to. get their degrees. These teachers had their best opportunity in the four years following matriculation, and if they were in the city they should qualify in that time. If they did not, then they should not be given further opportunities of long leave. In case of teachers coming from the country it was different. However, he thought each application for leave should be reported upon by the headmaster on its individual merits.

The matter was referred to a special committee to deal with all the applications individually. lr