OTAGO EDUCATION

Evening Star, Issue 21723, 18 May 1934, Page 8

OTAGO EDUCATION

ANNUAL MEETING OF INSTITUTE Tbe aunuiii meeting of the Otago Branch of the New Zealand Educational Institute was continued this morning in the institute’s rooms in Moray place. The president (Mr I). Forsyth I was in the chair. ELECTION OF OFFICERS. The election of officers resulted as follows; —President. Mr AY. A.' Sproai; vice-president, Mr A. Milne; secretary, Mr W. F. Abel : auditor, Mr D. Forsyth, DOMINION CONFERENCE. Reports on the business doue at the annual conference of the New Zealand Educational Institute were submitted by delegates. Dr W. .1. Borainan said that a feature of the conference was the changed attitude of delegates towards tho question of unemployment among teachers. Last year the delegates had been indifferent and almost callous over the problem : but this year the plight of the 1,800 teachers who were not in work was one of the major issues, and the conference was unanimous in its desire to do all it could to ease the situation. The speaker said he objected strongly to the action of the conference in voting £SO towards the funds of the W.E.A. Although he recognised the value of the work which that organisation was doing, there was no doubt that the association was an outside body. The Otago branch would have to consider tho advisability of sending forward a constitutional remit depriving the conference of its power to give money to outside bodies.

Mi- A. Hanna referred to (lie reports these, he said, bad received a “ decent submitted at the conference. Most of burial.” Mr A. Milne staled lhal all the Otago remits had been adopted In some form.

Mr AA'. F. Abel dealt with superannuation affairs, and said the position had not improved. For six months ended March 31 capital had been used at tbe rate of £13,000 a month—a position which might still exist. The Bill which was now proposed was not so bad as many thought it was. In'fact, he thought it should -be welcomed, because it would put tbe fund on a sound footing. Mr Abel went on to repudiate Mr Hanna’s suggestion that most of the reports had received a decent burial,” and said that each of them had been given the fullest consideration. TRAINING COLLEGE REFORM. The following remit was considered and passed unanimously; “That this branch of the New Zealand Institute do its utmost to secure that, in each centre, the Training College should be fully co-ordinated with the University College, and that the facilities of the University Colleges should be expanded where necessary, and fully utilised in the training of teachers.” Miss Hayward, who moved the adoption of the remit, said she had brought the matter up because she thought it gave them a golden opportunity to improve the whole of the existing conditions. She , thought that there were many subjects which could be taken at the University, while the essentially practical subjects could be taught in a separate college under other supervision. The motion was seconded by Dr Boraman, wlm said the proposed change was a matter of both economy and efficiency. Fie thought they would be doing very well indeed if they endorsed the institute’s previous findings and passed the motion before them.

The report was adopted without discussion .