ORGANISING TEACHERS

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLI, Issue XLI, 15 October 1921, Page 6

ORGANISING TEACHERS

MINISTER- EXPLAINS REDUC-

TIONS

When the proposed reduction in the number of organising teachers ia Taranaki was referred to the Minister of Education on his arrival in Hawera,' the Hon. C. J, Parr said: I "The impression sought to be created in the province that injury is being done by reducing the staff from four to two is entirely without foundation," said the Minister. "The truth is that i&e organising teachers are at present both unfairly and unequally distributed between the different boards' districts. For instance, Auckland .has only three organising teachers to look after 194 teachers who are below average merit and unqualified. Taranaki has four organising teachers to look after 14 teachers who are telow average merit. Of the other districts Wellington and Nelson have only two each to attend to more inefficient teachers than there are in Taranaki. Taranaki is easily the smallest education board district in the North Island. Auckland has 681 schools, whereas Taranaki haß only 160. Wellington, Hawke's Bay. and Wanganui have each considerably more schools than Taranaki. • { "When I say that ,you have no less than four organising teachers to assist 14 inefficient teachers that is the plain truth. It is true, however-, that your four organising teachers are attending, not to. 14,-but to 61. teachers in yourdistrict: * I have examined the records and-reports of these 61 teachers', and I find that 10 of them. aTe reported upon as good, and 26. as satisfactory. Another eleven are also good. Out of 48, 47 are either appraised by the inspectors as good or satisfactory. No. less than nine of. these teachers are fully qualified. It was not intended, that the Government should find or-i ganising teachers to assist teachers of j this calibre. "The function of the organising] teacher is to assist the inefficient! teacher only. It comes to this: Compared with other districts the organis-j ing teacher movement is completely overdone in Taranaki, and I assert; positively that two good' organising' teachers will be sufficient to attend to j the wants of the back-blocks in this district. Fears that back-blocks education will be injured are groundless. Snch fears have been created in a cer-? tain quarter for political purnoses only. The new distribution will be thvp? organising teachers for Auckland to look after 194 inefficient teachers; two for Taranaki,-to look after 14 such teachers^ two in Wangranui, j to supervise 30 inefficient teachers;' iriri two in Hawlce's Bay and fn Welto attend to a similar number." * i