TRAINING COLLEGES

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 34, 9 February 1926, Page 8

TRAINING COLLEGES

QUALIFICATIONS OF TEACHERS

CONFEEBNCE OF EDUCATION AUTHOEITIES.

A conference of representatives of •■■ university cdlleges, education boards, • professors of education, and principals ' of training colleges is being held in " Wellington to consider the f ollowin* - ' qnestions:-(l) The relationship be* " tween the professors of education and" training colleges; (2) establishment of "' training colleges for secondary teach- -' ers; (3) extent to which training col- " " lege students should be permitted to attend the university college concur- - rently with their teacher training- (4) • ■ the advisability or otherwise of estab- ' Ashing a separate training college * " for non university students: (5) ~" training of teachers in » technical"" ' subjects; (6) the advisability of ' providing bursaries in lieu of probationerships. to induce entrants ' to the teaching profession \to com- ' - plete their academic studies before •- entering the training college;' (7) or- ' - ganisation of vacation courses at the " university college for the benefit of ' teachers and ; others. The Education"" Department was represented by Mr. J. ' " Caughley (Director of Education) and Dr. E. Marsden (Assistant-Director of ' Education). .■. . . » ■ MINISTER'S ADDRESS. Sir James Parr (Minister of Education) said the conference had been called to give the .Government advice as - to what steps should be "taken to improve the administration and efficiency of training colleges. He had always held that if the training colleges' bo . right, the teacher was right; and if the' teacher was right, education was right. It was a truism to say that education '" in New Zealand depended almost en- • ■ > tirely on the teachers and the inspectors. .The training of teachers was - therefore the most important element in our educational system. The Gov- ' ernment established training colleges ia 1906, and there had been remarkable. developments in training colleges, particularly during the last seven or eight' - ' years. Last year the number of stu-\~ ' dents had increased to 1280. There was " no other country in the world which made such liberal provision, for tha training of teachers as New Zealand. The conference had been called to dis-' cuss the means by which the existing rapidly growing organisation might be made still more efficient. The Minister referred to the minority report of the recent Royal Commission on training colleges, in England, and expressed the -' opinion that the findings in that mm- - ority report should be the goal of every;,., educational system with regard to tha training of teachers. He sketched the , advance which had been made in New: Zealand in the training of teachers, and added that we were gradually but sure- - • ly approaching-the goal aimed at by ' the very efficient minority report of the . Eoyal Commission in Great Britain. He commented upon the subjects set down for the consideration of the conference, and aquoted the opinion of v „, Porf essor John Adams, who recently -' - visited New Zealand, namely, "that^ there was not much to find fault with; -' you are. going along pretty well in your training colleges." Such words from such a man carried great weight. It" ' was quite clear, in the Minister's opin- l' ion, that we had now reached a stags' •' ' in the development of the training college system which required very carei ful handling and consideration. The,, conference had a most important and. - responsible task of tendering advice to th« Government on tEe questions he. hai referred to. .'■■■...