TRAINING COLLEGE.

Evening Star, Issue 14044, 27 April 1909, Page 4

TRAINING COLLEGE.

OPENED THIS AFTERNOON BY THE HON. G. FOWLDS. The Training CoMeg3 in Cumberland street was opened this afternoon by~tue Hon. G. Fowlds, Minister of Education. A large company of persons interested in education assembledj including clergymen, University ..professors, teachers, members of Parliament, and students, and members of the Otago Education Board present were the Hon. T. Fergus (chairman). Mi P. G. Pryde (secretary), and Messrs Israel, Borrie, Mitchell, M'Kerrow, and the Rev. P. B. Fraser. The Minister was escorted to the stage by" the chairman, who was accompanied by the Primate of New Zealand and the Dean of Dunedin. All who could possibly squeeze into the room having been accommodated, the people sang 'Praise God from whom all blessings flow.' THE CHAIRMAN'S REMARKS. The Hon. T. Fergus welcomed the Hon. G. Fowlds. Underlying all that the Minister had done was seen his determination to further the interests of the people in respect to education. Mr Fowlds was fortunate in making his first appearance here as a Minister in the capacity of " Education," since Otago had made special efforts to further that cause, and in Otago education was still on© of the foremost interests. THE MINISTER'S SPEECH. The Hon. G. Fowlds, Minister of Education, said: Mr Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, —I am glad to be present to take part in the opening of this institution, which completes the chain of training colleges in each of the four university eolleg'.' centres now properly equipped with convenient and commodious buildings,—( Api plause.) —Training Collegee Necessary.— It is difficult to eraggerate the importance of the training of teachers in the addition system of any country. To trie thorough training of teachers Germany, Switzerland, Scotland, New York, Chhigo, etc, owe the efficiency' of their primary and secondary school systems, and The absence of adequate means of tra iiw their teachers in many other countries and places is the undoubted cause of or less failing in efficiency, notably "u> tl-e country schools of Canada, ami of many parts of the United States. The importance of good training colleges was earn' recognised in the education system of New Zealand. Two years before the comm -• into operation, of the Education Act of 1877—namely, in 1876—a Normal School was estaidished in Dunedin, and in 1877 a similar .Institution was opened in Chmstchurch. In the Auckland district, although no Normal School was established classes for the training of teachers were conducted at Auckland and Thames. It is interesting to note that in the year 1877 there wen? in attendance at these schools and classes 207 students—namely, at Auckland 84, Thames 20, Christchurch 53, and Dunedin 50.

—The Increases in the Vote.— In _ the year 1879 £7,000 was voted for training colleges, but only part of this was expended, us the conditions were not complied with at Auckland, and no college had as yet been established in Wellington. The amount of the vote, was increased to £7 500 in 1880, and to £B,OOO in 1882, in which year more or less, complete- noirinal schools were established at Auckland and Wellington. Tho annual vote remained at the same figure bp to the t liU - 1887, when, as part ot ■'he policy ol retrenchment, the whole vote for training rolleges (£8,000) wns cut off. The number of student's at this time was 125. As ::. consequence of the withdrawal of the vote the Normal Schools at Auckland an<l Wellington were ciceed, but the North Canterbury and Otago Education Board; determined to carry on their schools, iiiodifyinsr the arrangements so as to reduce the" expense and meeting this out cf their ordinary capitation for school pu: poses. In 1892 the vote 'or the trainiiiL' of teachers reappears in the modest figure of £SOO increased in the next y{vv to £6OO to £I,OOO m 1900, and still, further in 1902 to £1,500. In 1904 the vote was restored to the same figure as in the year 1887— *B.ooo—and has been; .'still "further increased until in 1908 it reached £32,800. the increase of the vote in 1904 enabled the two Training Colleges at Christchurch and Dnnedm to reorganise their staff, to bring their work more into accord with modern ideas, and to provide for a largely increased number of students. ° * —Tho Scope of the Scheme.—

Hie new departure was due to the adoption by the Education Committee, by th~ Minister, and by the House of Representatives of certain recommendations made by the department. These are embodied "in a report of the Education Committee, which was adopted by the Govenmrait as the basis of action. Tha principal points of that report were : Firstly, that a training college for touchers should be established J each of the four centres of the Dominion—namely, at Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dimedrn—being tie univeraitv centres. Secondly, that in order to avoid the expense of duplicating instruction in subjects which are taught at. university colleges, sjid to ensure for teachers breadth of view, the training of teachers in literary and sekarfjfic work should, as far as possioJe, be provided by the university colleges. Thirdly, that A tiro years* course should be aimed at. The salaries offered to the staff of the teaming colleges amd normal schools were higher than in the ordinary schools, and sufficient, it was tioped, to attract perso-ns of good standing and experience. A pupil-teacher in any education district who had satisfactorily completed his term of service might enter at the training college most convenient for him. He would receive, in addition to the amount of university college fees, the sum of £3O a year if ho lived at home, and £6O a year if he lived away from home, in order to attend the college. Advantages were also offered to candidates who had not been pupil4eachers; and otheas, again, might be admitted for shorter or longer periods, ! although they had bean for some time en- ' gaged in the practice of their profession. It may be safely said thai the increased ' funds give the botirds thai control the | colleges the chance of making them much more efficient than it was possible to do with the limited means that were at their disposal before. —Liberal Allowances.— New colleges at Auckland and Wellington were opened in the beginning of 1906, and , under the present regulations it is contemplated that each college should have 100 students in attendance. There is no doubt that the allowances and other inducements offered to students at taming colleges are far more liberal than are offered to students anywhere else in the world. In Switzerland, England, and Scotland, where allowances are given, they are much smaller in amount. In America, at hardly any of the recognised training colleges are any allowances given at aIL Although teacheiß pa v nothing for their ta-anring, they have still to maintain themselves at their own expense. The cost of training in New Zealand k not high apart from this allowance. In Chicago, for instance, the cost per student per aiimnn is £4-9 2s Bd, excluding the cost of, the practising schools, no allowance being made to stadaots for board, etc. In New Zealand the corresponding figures are- £23 15s. Even including the allowances to students, which average £54 18s 2d a head, the total cost is only £56 15s 2d per head. —The Cost and the Results.— At the end of the year 1908 there were at all four colleges 288 students, of whom 77 were men and 211 women. Towards this number, out of the total reported, Wellington contributed" £O, Dunedin 80, amount granted for buildings specially intended far the -braining colleges since the inception of the new schema of ISO 4 has been £25,000 nearly—namely, over £9,000 each to Auckland and Dunedsn, and nearly to Wellington. The amount expended on the training colleges durkig tfoe past fitKHinial year, exclusive of that spent'-on boaldinge, was £25,721 —namely, eateries of iho staffs of the four training colleges, sfcadants' allowances and uniyeqsify, fees, £12,942.; books, gymnasium appaaatoe, £279. It mas* ;be xomemterad, Jboweyee, fhafc t?»»

total provides r.at only for the efficient training <sf over 280 teachers, but for the instruction of about 1.600 children in attendance at the practising schools. The policy of connecting training colleges with TrrHvorsity colleges is one tfiat is being followed more'and metro in •'other parts of the world; for instance, in Glasgow the eystem of training teachers is being reorganised with this end in vie*v.

—Training Must, bo Thorough.— - It is meet important for the success of. the 6yetem that before entering* a training college every fiiudani should have received a sound ©econdau-y education. If tnis is eo thero can be no difficulty in Ids attending one or two at least of the conjee given «fc the- university college. In the most nredern and most successful of the American colleges graduation from • a liigh school, which implies a four years' course satisfactorily accomplished, is "a. sine qna mm for entrance to a training college, and this, it most be remembered, implies a, much higher ciendard than that exacted here—that of passing the matri- j eolation examination. Similar conditions prevail in advanced communities ekeand we in New Zealand cannot afford to have teachers less well prepared than they are in other countries of the civilised world. Indeed, if we do not ■maintain a high standerd, it is doubtful whether the large expenditure will be justified by the results. —More Teachers Wanted.— As the new Act comes into operation more adult trained teachers will be required in the schools; in fact, in the next few years from 700 to 750 mare teachers at least will be required. It is therefore desirable that the number of students in each of the colleges should be not less than 100, the limit now fixed, so that the supply of trained teachers in the Bominion may not fall short. The number of students in training during the past five years at the four centres has been respectively as follows :

For tho curent year the total is 95 at Dunedin, 92 at Wellington. The other numbers are not yet available. ' —A New Spirit and a New Ideal.— I expect soon to come out from these colleges a body of teachers filled with a new spirit and a new ideal of teaching—teachers who have come to realise that teaching is not a more handing round of parcels of knowledge—(applause)— but the kindling of intellectual interest, and the cultivating of the habit of scientific thinking as well as scientific doing.—(Applause.) Above all, the development of judgment and character, and so eaablin" the individual to live his own full and complete life.—(Applause.) —A Practical Suggestion.— In conclusion, I would suggest that these training colleges might act as centres for the collecting and distributing amongst the schools of the Dominion sets of illustrative material for object lessons—(ap. plause)—material that would show the natural products and manufactured articles both ol our own and other countries I teel sure that if that work were properly taken up the students and the staff of the college would have no difficulty in setting gilts of material from the producers and manofachTOK of New Zealand, and might also be able to arrange exchanges with similar institutions in other countries, and so get- fairly complete sets. This work it taken up by the students, would be valuable to the children, valuable to her6 l alr l e f l y in the Profession, and specially valuable to the students them--3* a f . fu f h «" training for their life's wori,.-(Ap P W.) I now declare the Training College open. The meeting was proceeding at 3.30 p.m.

Male. 1904 5 1905 47 1906 69 1907 61 1908 77 Female. Total. 70 75 174 221 195 264 192 253 211 288 259 842 1401 —The Figures for Donedin.— At the Dtmedin Training College the number during the same period have been : — Male. 1904 2 1905 3 1906 10 1907 19 1908 24 Female. Total. 41 43 59 62 65 75 61 70 56 80