TRAINING TEACHERS

Evening Star, Issue 19276, 15 June 1926, Page 5

TRAINING TEACHERS

SHORTAGES IN SOME DISTRICTS DISCUSSION BY EDUCATION BOARD To the meeting of the Otago Education Board to-day came an intimation from the Education Department that approximately seventy Hawke’s Bay Training College students would require to seek admission to tho Dunedin Training College in 1927. The Chairman (Mr J. Wallace): “ I suppose wo may tell tho department that A students will be admitted, but B students will not bo admitted unless under some new scheme.” In reply to a question the Secretary said thirty-five Hawke’s Bay trainees were at tho Dunedin College this year. The Hon. D. T. Fleming said the question of the shortage of teachers in various districts had recently come before a meeting of the Council of Education. The following motion had been passed:—“That the _ council recommends that all qualified certificated teachers who, having; failed to obtain positions three months after the termination of their training college period, may be drafted into temporary positions where their services may bo most usefully absorbed.” Mr Fleming said a return had been presented showing the numbers of teachers unemployed in various districts to be as follow;—Auckland nil. Taranaki 2, Hawke’s Bay nil, Wellington 4, Nelson nil, Canterbury 24, Otago 42, Southland 1.

Mr Mitchell: “We cannot absorb all our own.”

Another Member: “Other districts cannot turn out teachers for themselves.”

The Secretary said that almost all the extra Otago teachers had now been absorbed. Some of them had gone north.

Mr Fleming said ho had told the Council of Education that by May or Juno nearly all Otago teachers would be in service.

The Chairman said he thought the figures of some of the other boards were made up in a different way from those of Otago. Some of the fortytwo Otago teachers mentioned had drawn salaries after leaving college. Mr Mitchell; “The whole system will have to be altered and put on the same basis ns the Civil Service. Teachers would then have to go to where they wore appointed.” The Chairman suggested that the board inform the department that it would take all the A students, hut could not change its attitude in regard to the others. This was agreed to.