PARLIAMENT.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 8108, 13 October 1906, Page 6

PARLIAMENT.

legislative Council.

(Per Press Association.) WELLINGTON, October 12. The Government Advances to Settlers Bill was read a third time and passed

On the morion of the AttorneyGeneral th* amendments made by the House jn the Training Ships Bill were agreed 10 The Masierton Trust Lands Trust Empowering Bill was committed, reported unamended and passed. The Council roso at 2.48. House of Representatives. The H 'use mat at 2.30 p.m. Mr Kaihau was given two weeks' leave o£ absence on account of ill health. LAND BILL. Mr Fisher (through Mr Aitken) gave notice to whether the Government would, by reason of the coming endowment policy, suspend the operation of the Land Act. ESTIMATES. The House went into Committee of Supply. CLASS XXIII.—EDUCATION. A long discussion ensued on the first item. In reply to the various statements made during the discussion the Minister of Education said ho had listened with a j good deal of interest to the remarks mode. He hoped to improve matters in the course of time, but the opposite views expressed showed the impossibility of giving unanimous satisfaction. The comments about the syllabus, he thought, were hardly justifiable at present. Firstly, the new syllabus had only been in operation for two and a half years. It was unreasonable to expect that teachers and inspectors all over the country would at once fall into line in the operation of the ! new syllabus. It was quite clear from the remarks of teachers in some parts of the colony, at any rate, that the syllabus had given satisfactory results both to teachers and scholars Failure in this respect had been duo to tno inability of somo one to g:asp the true meaning and intent of the syllabus. He was satisfied that with the advent of new tcachers trained in their colleges a good many of the difficulties experienced with those trained in other methods j would disappear; also that the appoint- j ments of younger men to the positions of inspectors would enable the spirit of the syllabus to be appreciated and applied. Then the colony would get the very best lesults. The regulations, he thought, had been in the past too responsive to pressure under unusual circumstances, and whatever trouble had arisen was due to the fact that they had been amended so frequently on account of special cases. Coming into office as he had done on the opening of Parliament he had nGt proposed to submit the syllabus to the Education Committee this year. He did not think it would have been right to throw the syllabus on the floor of the Education Committee without submitting any policy of his own. He had, therefore, held it over. He intended, however, at the earliest opportunity, to go through the syllabus with the officers of the Department early in the new year. The two-yearly assemblage of inspectors would be held and he hoped to have some amendments for criticism by those who had the administration and interpretations of the syllabus. At the next meeting of Parliament the whole of the results of the. criticism of the inspectors would be put before the Education Committee, and he hoped they would be able to get the syllabus into the very best shape. As to cen- . tralisation, a good deal of this had been forced on the Department. The whole tendency of recent legislation had been in that direction, notably in respect to the administration of the colonial scale of salaries, tcachers' superannuation, and mcrease'in the manual and technical work, whilst even now members were urging the adoption of an uniform scale of books tending more centralisation. As to,the back blocks, he need only say that he was in hearty sympathy with what had been urged on behalf of the people m the outlying districts. It was very largely a matter of cost, but he was perfectly .-atisfied that no country in the world was prepared to pay such a high vote for a small number of children m the back blocks of New Zealand.

The House adjourned at 5.30,

Evening Sitting.

The House resumed at 7.30. Vote, £8069, bead oflice, was passed unaltered.

Vote, £538,611, public schools.—After further discussion the Minister further explained that in some districts the bad roads interfered with the conveyance of children to the schools ; that there would be a vote on the public works estimates for the Auck'and Traimng College ; that I the basis of school classification, not teachers' salary, is the attendance and that difficulty of transferring teachers is caused by variations of the attendancei especially in limited areas under divided control; in fix'ng salaries of certificated teachers, they must depend on varieties of circumstances as was the case in all professions in which the best qualified men frequently did not get the best s&l^nGs Mr Massey paid a high compliment to the Education Committee of last year, and its Chairman, Mr Baume, for the excellent work done with the two new Acts of the session. He would like to see better provision made for rural education after the manner of the Auckland Board. The Minister said that special grants were offered to all the Boards of Education for this purpose. The vote was passed unaltered. The Secondary Education (£45,075) and Technical Education (£33,225) votes were passed unaltered. Public School cadets, £6085. Mr Field asked if the Department would co operate with the Defence Department in re camp at Christckurch Exhibition. The question was not answered. Native Schools, £21,755.—1n reply to Mr NgaLa, who had spoken highly of

the abilities and devotions of the men and the difficulties of their position, and Mr Herries who had sustained Mr Ngata, the Minister said that the salaries had been raised, and he further promised to do his best in the matter of facilities for rural and technical education. . . Mr Ngata advised the Minister to visit the native schools during the recess, and see, inter alia, if the natives would not • set apart a portion of their revenues for assisting technical and agricultural education. The Minister said he would do so gladly. Mr Ngata promised to be his guide. The vote was passed unaltered. Industrial schools (£25,174), school for deaf mutes (£4154), school for blind (£73l),miscellaneous services (£12,935), school buildings (£86,650), bringing, with the rest, the aggregate of the education vote to £783,204, were passed unaltered. Class XXIV, Public Health, £25,372, was passed without alteration. Class XX V, Mental Hospitals and Charitable Aid, £97,505.—Mr Wilford | appealed for the betterment of the condition of the female warders who were poorly paid, working long hours, were coarsely fed and subjected to a tremendous and prolonged strain, and sustained his caise by quoting from the last report of the Inspector, contrasting the cases of these attendants and workers in factories who are protected by the factory legislation. Mr Gray advocated separation of mild cases and the Minister said porvision was being made in the Public Works Estimes. Mr Massey advocated the addition at Waitati for separation of epileptic cases. The Minister said that the whole question was under Cabinet consideration of the classification of metal c?.ses. With regard to the female attendants he said he had not had opportunity to go into the matter fully. So far as he had gone he knew the pay had been increased and the hours had been shortened. (Cries of " Too long yeu") He promised to enquire carefully into the matter. He admitted with regret the coming severance of Mrs Neil's connection with the department.