WOMEN TEACHERS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 17 October 1925, Page 11

WOMEN TEACHERS.

SOUTH TARANAKI ASSOCIATION

REFOBMS IN HAND

The South Taranaki Women Teachers’ Association met in the teachers’ room at the Hawera School this morning, Miss J. Slattery presiding over an attendance of eight members. The secretary (Miss Andrews) reported on the recent conference of the Women Teachers’ Association held at Auckland. It was the first conference at which Miss Carnaehan had been able to be present, and the association was most fortunate in obtaining the services of Miss Carnaehan as president. She was a quiet, convincing speaker, and she had a wide knowledge of educational matters. Amongst the remits discussed was one concerning infant staffing, it being the opinion of the conference that not more than 30 pupils should be placed under the charge of one teacher, the number of pupils being calculated on the average roll for the preceding year. Anyone would consider it suicidal to place 60 children in the charge of one adult at a picnic or any other such function, and yet when bounded by four walls 60 children were supposed to be manageable by one teacher. The action of education boards in advertising head teacherships as open to males only formed the subject of another remit, it being pointed out that the few women who had occupied these higher positions had justified their appointments. In a few boards the position obtained that a woman could take a sole charge school as long as the average attendance did not amount to more than 35. As soon as the average touched 36, however, the woman teacher was deemed to he only capable of teaching half of the 36 pupils in half of the classes, although she had taught all classes previously. The necessity for the supply of sewing materials by the department was the subject of another remit. A remit in favour of appointing an organising secretary was lost, Miss Andrews giving it as her opinion that a Wellington delegate had not assisted the proposal when she gave it as her opinion that .applications should he called not only in the Dominion hut outside, and the position advertised at' £SOO per vear. Delegates seemed to be all in favour of something being done, hut they had not thought of going as far as was suggested by the Wellington delegate. Various circulars were read by the secretary and received. The secretary reported that the membership in Taranaki now stood at 202. 40 new members having been enrolled last year. There were some branches that she had not heard from, hut where there was a member of the executive thei« , e was generally more activity. Th chairwoman congratulated Miss Andrews on being appointed secretary of the New Zealand Women Teachers’ Association, an office which she would fill with credit.

The meeting then terminated with a vote of thanks to th© chair.