SCHOOL COMMITTEES.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12729, 12 April 1904, Page 4

SCHOOL COMMITTEES.

The following letter, which explains itself, has been forwarded to the Minister of Education:— Dear Sir, —I have the honour to inform you that at a meeting of the Dunedin Suburban Schools Committees’ Conference, hold at Dunedin on the loth instant, the following resolutions, which 1 was instructed to forward to you, were carried unanimously 1. “That this conference protest against the proposal, carried by tho school inspectors at their recent conference, to amend section 45 of the Education Act, 1877, by repealing the subsection dealing with tho powers of school committees in tho appointment, suspension, or dismissal of teachers, such being, iu this conference’s opinion, detrimental to the best interests of the schools.”

2. “That, in the opinion of this conference, it is desirable to extend the powers of school committees, and that the ‘consultation’ of school committees provided for in clause 46 of the Education Act in the selection of teachers should bo altered to ‘appointment’ by school committees, subject to a power of veto by the education boards if reasons can be shown for the exercise of such veto.”

3. “That, in the opinion of this conference, it is desirable that the entrance test of free pupils to the secondary schools shall be an educational one, and not an age limit.”

4. “That it will be universally conceded that there can be no chance of satisfactory education unless the teachers arc paid at least reasonable remuneration; and this conference again protest against the miserable pittances being paid to male teachers below the rank of first assistants.”

i was instructed specially to direct your attention to resolutions Nos. 1 and 2, In reference to them, it was contended that any interference with the powers now enjoyed by school committees must result in lessening, if not actually extinguishing, the interest taken by parents and “householders” in the welfare of their several school districts and all matters pertaining thereto. In this connection the conference would respectfully ask you to ponder the weighty remarks of Mr F. Tate, Director of Education in Victoria, when contrasting the working of the national systems in Victoria and New Zealand respectively, lie lias so well emphasised the value of “local supervision and local interest” that \ve think nothing remains to be said on those heads. Upon being interviewed by a local newspaper reporter, Mr Tate said “that ho was not yet in a position to formulate definitely his impressions, but one thing that had struck him very much in this colony was the great interest displayed by the public in education questions. He is strongly of opinion that no system of education can bo thoroughly efiecient, nor can there be continuity in an education policy, unless the system is broad-based upon intelligent popular appreciation. He feels that in Victoria one of the greatest obstacles in the way of the educational reforms which he seeks to introduce is the absence of a real and intelligent public interest in education. That is ono of the results of overcentralisation. Parents and the public generally seem to regard the department as entirely responsible for the well-being of the schools, and, having no active control over the local school, they regard it as the State’s school, not as ‘our’ school. Mr Tate is impressed by the fact that in New Zealand one cannot take up the newspaper without noticing the large amount of space devoted to educational topics. The school buildings and grounds, too, show how much can be done by school committees that arc able to obtain the financial support of the whole district. It has been a groat object lesson to him to notice the well-kept buildings and grounds of the Dunedin schools. He thinks that they would compare more than favourably with the schools of any Victorian town. In Victoria, unfortunately, all the expenditure in connection with the buildings comes out of the departmental fund, and is administered from Melbourne. One result of that is that local assistance in providing necessaries and comforts for the children is rarely heard of, and then only when an exceptionally vigorous teacher takes up a special movement. In times of financial stress the building vote is one of the first to be retrenched by the needy Treasurer, and so the department finds it very hard to do more Chau supply the barest necessities for the schools. In such times of stress, painting the buildings, draining the grounds, providing shelter sheds, and so on, are regarded as luxuries, which can be done without until a more convenient season. The board system in New Zealand appears to have produced a very different state of things.” Especially in reference to the second resolution there was a consensus of opinion among the members of the conference that, instead of diminishing the powers of school committees, the time was ripe, particularly in the large centres, where educational activities are strong, for the extension of these powers in the direction suggested in the resolutions. Experience has shown that boards are, for the most part, what the committees make them, and that in the majority of instances the boards are composed of the men who graduate from and compose the committees. Therefore, there can be no question, we submit, as to the capacity of school committees to deal with the question; indeed, the local knowledge of the committees, and the acknowledged zeal of these bodies in promoting tho cause of national education, are, we think, the potent factors in and afford the best guarantees for entrusting to committees the power (subject to the saving clause named in the resolution] to appoint all the members of the staffs of their respective' schools. Hoping that the various matters dealt with will commend themselves to yourself, as Minister of Education, and to your Government—l have, etc.,

W. A. SCOTT, Chairman Dunedin and Suburban Schools* Conference.