EDUCATIONAL.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLIV, Issue XLIV, 21 May 1924, Page 5

EDUCATIONAL.

TEACHERS' CONFERENCE.

HEAVY EXPENDITURE.

SALARIES OF TEACHERS

(BY TELEGBAPH—PKESS ASSOCIATION.) A* + X _.. WELLINGTON, May 20. At the leaehers' Conrerence. Mr larr said he was keen to have the grading ma <i e as efficient as possible to answer the compiamt that uniformity was lacking in the valuation or appraisement or teachers' qualifications One way of meeting this was the transfer of inspectors from one district to another, for the purpose of getting a truer valuation of a teacher's work lhere were not many appeals, and fewer still had succeeded, hi the second^ary schools there were only two appeals last year. He had always maintamed the principle of nroinotion ajid appointment according to grading O n ettiQiency. Regarding superannuation, j ?"* Said that £25W tad .been added last year from the Government funds to the superannuation fund and tear of unsoundness in position had been banished. The . uncertificated teacher was giving way to the .trained teacher from training colleges. In some ways he was sorry far the uncertincafced teacher but tnere was no help fox it, in 1919 there were 397 students m training Colleges. To-4ay- there are 120/, and next yeai he looked for an output of from 600 to 700 trained ocr- ; tineated ..teachers from training colleges, and that he hoped it would continue year by year. The expenditure on training colleges had increased 400 per cent. The next work he beliveed should be the establishment of training colleges in the country, away from the cities altogether. Speaking at the education conference on tue question of the regulations, about which compiamt had been made, the vT' ?• Jv Parr P°inted out that the Education Department was responsible tor the expenditure of £3,500,000, and Parliament held the Department to account for it. He would like details as to the so-called "tyrannical regulations and specific instances, but he had been unable to get them He would not hesitate to cancel any regulation that was unfair, unreasonable or unnecessary. He proposed to review the regulations and consolidate all the regulations dealing with teachers. He would approve of some defhiiteness being given to vague and general statements, and he was quite prepared to investigate any particular instances in regard to salaries. He proposed to have a scheme in operation to prevent too many transfers m schools. These matter s could be thoroughly investigated by the Teachers' Institute and the Department s officers in frank discussion He was trying to perfect a satisfactory scheme for salaries without increasing the total amount allotted by Partial ment. No teacher's salary was to be reduced. The Minister dealt at some length with the scheme for salaries put forward by the institute. It had weaknesses, he said, which were very obvious. J

The Minister, m conclusion, offered to set up an independent tribunal to settle the question of teachers' salaries on a satisfactory basis to all concerned He forecasted the closer liaison of senior inspectors and the department by bringing one senior inspector at a time to Wellington to the department.