EDUCATION CONFERENCE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 5000, 15 October 1918, Page 2

EDUCATION CONFERENCE.

MR WILDISH REVIEWS WORK DONE. REASON FOR SCARCITY OF TEACHERS. At last night’s meeting of the School Committee’s Association held at tho Gisborne School last night — Mr W. J. MeCliskie (chairman) presiding— Mr Geo. .Wildish gave an interesting resume of the work done at the recent conference in Napier. It wai; agreed at the conference, he said, that no school should have less than three acres in the town and five acres in the country as a playing ground. The question of the inadequacy of teachers’ salaries was also discussed, it being considered that the reason for the fact that feo few hoys were dispalying a desire to go into the teaching _ profession was that it was underpaid. The most striking remit dealt with was that a new Education Bill should ho brought in, and the conference eventually decided to appoint a committee to go into File matter and Air I/. T. Barnard was one of the delegates appointed to go to Wellington to attend a national conference to be held this month. The question of subsidies- wan warmly discussed and Air Patterson informed the conference that the Alimster for Education had stated that he did not have power to spend more than £2so’ without the author* ity of Cabinet. The Government was prepared to assist in respect to railwavs farming organisations, and so forth but did not seem ready to assist education to- the same extent. All the remits were carried with the exception of one which was modified. A strong point was that, if a child’s teeth, for instance, required attention, tho Government should bear the cost of having the work done. , . . Mr Wildish, in conclusion, said that he thought something would Ije done, this session in Parliament.