PUPIL TEACHERS

Evening Star, Issue 16662, 19 February 1918, Page 2

PUPIL TEACHERS

INCREASED' PAY RECOMMENDED. Tho Council of Education discussed at Wellington on Wednesday tho pupil-teaclier system, and passed motions that the pay and allowances of pupil teachers and training college students should bo increased, and that as soon as tc-acher.3 are available the provisions in the Education Act for the abolition of the pupil-teacher system and the staffing of the schools by adult teachers only should be put iu f o effect. _ It was pointed out that at the present time pupil teachers aro paid less than cadets in tho various Government departments. Tho pay for a pupil tc-acher living away from home, having a Public Service entrance qualification on appointment, for the live years of training, is £6O for the first year and £65 for each of the four subsequent years, while that of a clerical cadet in a publio department, under similar circumstancea, is for" the five years respectively £7B, £BB, £9B, £IOB, £llO, and that of a professional cadet is £BB. £9B, £IOB, £l2O, and.£l4o, the latter thus receiving on the average nearly double tho pay of the pupil teacher. There is undoubtedly a shortage of young men offering for entrance to the teaching profession. For example, ono board that had 50 positions to fill recently could obtain only two qualified male applicants. One member of the council pointed out that very frequently young _ men after accepting appointment as pupil teachers and serving for one or two years, resigned in order to take up other work, such as law, commerce, or medicine, and consequently the teaching profession is the poorer. Tho general opinion was that although it would cost £20,000 or £30,000 additional annually to make tho teaching profession more attractive, the expenditure would bo warranted in the interests of tho future work of education hi New Zealand. Tho whole question of the pupil teacher system w.is also discussed, and it was agreed that as soon as possible the system should be abolished, as a means of recruiting young teachers. Tho pupil teacher is too inexperienced to be of value as a teaching unit in tho schools, and in the interests of the pupils and of the pupil teachers themselves it would be much preferable to staff the schools fully with adult teachers. Tho teaching would be more effective, and as a probationer, who devotes little more fhon half his time to teaching, and then never in charge of a class, tho young teacher would have more tima for his own studies and preparation for his work. One result of the pupil teacher system at, the present tima is that assistants have necessarily to take charge of very large classes, and that if the pupil teachers were replaced by adults, as is provided for in. the Act, the difficulty of organising the large schools would be overcome and tho extra 'heavy work and strain placed on some teachers would be removed. This cannot be done at presonfc because the number of teachers offering is insufficient, but it is expected that after the war conditions in this respect will improve, more especially iF tho salaries of young teachers are increased.