BOARD OF EDUCATION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 12625, 4 August 1904, Page 7

BOARD OF EDUCATION.

The fortnightly meeting' of the Board of Education was held in the offices, "Victoria Arcade, yesterday, Mr. R. Hobbs (chairman) presiding. . There were also present: Messrs. S. Luke, G. Edgeoumbe, F. Dye, J. Stallworthy, L. J. Bagnall, EL J. Greensladt, A. R. Harris, and 0. J. Parr. Mr. Bagnall withdrew early, owing to an important prior engagement. Quarterly Returns: The quarterly returns gave tho number of schools in the Auckland district as 419, an increase compared with the previous quarter of one school. The teachers numbered 819, an increase of eight; the scholars on the roll showed an increase of 153, with an increased average attendance of 93. Finance Committee's Report: The report of the Finance Committee embodied the following clauses:— The committee recommend payment of the following accounts: — Administration account, £2234 Os lOd; manual and technical account, £386 15s; build account, £1179 5s 2d. 2. The committee recommend that the Board should communicate with the following school committees in regard to the items of expenditure disallowed by the auditoi in their accounts for the 12 months ended March. 1904: —Greerton, Meree., Okoroire, Onehunga, Ponsonby, Raglan, Woodside. 3. The committee, having examined the income and expenditure on account of the district high schools fjr the quarter ended June 30, 1904, recommend the following payments to be mado from the special grants earned under the regulations :—Onehunga. Mr. Mcintosh, £10; Mi. Winter, £25; Mr. Warren, £7 10s. 4. The committee have considered the failures of teachers to qualify for certificates at the annual examination held in January last, and have directed them to enter for the next examination, to bo held in January, 1905. 5. The committee recommend that the solicitor should be asked to complete the transfer of the school site at Pukekawa to the Board. The report was adopted. Selection of Teachers: The report of the Teachers' Selection Committee contained the following clauses: —The committee recommended : 1. That the following • appointments be authorised by the Board: —Mr. A. J. Shepherd, temporary substitute, to Fairburn's and Takahue schools; Mr. C. J. Rogers, temporary substitute, to Hobsonvillo school; Mr. W. P. Roberts,' temporary substitute, to Tararu school; Mr. O. B. Kenny, temporary substitute, to Kirikiriroa school; Miss V. M. Cooke, to be mistress of Tararu school; Miss M. M. Stubbs, to be mistress of Marua school; Miss F. I. Patterson. M.A.. to bp third assistant for District High School. Onehunga; Miss M. Paisley. to be temporary mistress of Waihopo school; Miss Nora Sadler, pupil-teacher, to Napier-street school. 2. That school committees be consulted in regard to proposed appointments as follows: —Whangarei Heads (sole charge), Messrs. W. G. Graham and ,T. H. Hudson: M.italcana (mistress), Miss E. M. May. 3. That applications be invited by advertisement for the following appointments:—Newton West, assistant at £115: Onehuntra. Northeote. and Te Arolin, assistants at £80. 4. The committee submit a protest from the Parnell School Committee in regard to the withdrawal of an ex-pupil-teacher from the school within a few weeks of the annual standard examination of the school, and recommend that an explanation be sent to the committee that the withdrawal was inevitable in order to meet the requirements of the service. 5. The committer submit a letter from the Rotorua School Committer, askintr for the appointment of two pupil-teachers in place of the second assistant, and recommend that consideration of the renuest lie deferred for further innuiry. 6. The committee, having ascertained that there are only four scholars in attendance at the Whnngaparoa aided school, recommend that the appointment of a teacher thereto should be cancelled, and that the school should be closed until such time as the number of scholars shall warrant its being reopened. The report was adopted. Death of Teacher: In the course of his report the chairman referred with regret to the death of Mr. William Lowrie. teachei of the Whancrarei Heads school, which took place on July 21 after an illness of more than fivo months' duration. Speaking to the report. Mr. Hobbs touched on the good qualities of deceased, and on his motion it was decided to send a letter of sympathy and condolence to the relatives. Resignations: Resignations were received from Miss J. A. Burns, assistant, Newton West school, and Miss B. Cragg, mistress, Matakana school. Teachers' Salaries: The Chairman drew attention to the representations recently made by teachers concerning the disparity between the salaries of first and second male assistant-teachers, and to the references made in the House of Representatives on the matter. He said that the difference was altogether too great, and pointed out that some second assistants had as great responsibility thrown on them as the first assistants, and married men were in several instances not receiving salaries equal to those paid to artisans. On September 4. 1901, the Board had drawn the attention of the Minister for Education to the matter, giving as an ex ample of the unfairness an instance showing that in the case of a school of 660 average attendance the first assistant received £2110, while the second assistant's salary could not exceed £145; this despite the fact that the class in the charge of the latter might- be nearly double the size of that under the charge of the first assistant. He moved, ''That this Board reaffirms the opinion expressed in the letter to the Minister for Education, dated September 4, 1901, regarding the disparity between the salaries of first and second assistant masters as prescribed by the colonial scale, and that a copy of this resolution and of the Board's letter of (he said date be forwarded to the Minister." The motion was heartily supported and unanimously adopted. The Recent Candidates' and Pupil-teachers' Examinations: Owing to a clerical error, the following names were omitted from the list of passes at the recent candidates' examinations:lsabella C. Anderson, Welles--street school; Dinah Clark, Newton East school: Elizabeth C. Davern, Aratapu District High School ; Phyllis M. Johnson, Whangarei High School: Harold E. Pendergrast, Pokeno school: Nora Sadler, Dacre's school: May V. Stewart, Thames .High School; Walter 11. Williams. Aratapu District High School. The name of Miss Elizabeth De Renzy was also omitted from the passes in the first-year pupil-teachers. Works Authorised: A return of works authorised but not completed, as asked for by Mr. Edgecumbe. was laid on the table, and showed that the total value was about £12.500. Junior Scholarship Subjects: Reporting on the proposal to make woodwork and cookery optional alternate subjects for junior scholarship examinations, the chief inspector stated that himself and his confreres had come to the conclusion that they could not support an alteration in the direction indicated. They held that the object of the scholarship examination was to pick out young persons of superior inenta' ability with a view to securing for them the advantages of a more advanced and complete training, and pointed out that the subjects referred to would not afford any real criterion of mental ability, as dullards were frequently as adept at cookery and woodwork as children of higher mental calibre. Mr. George George, director of technical education, contended that the mental qualities of the children were called into play in woodwork and cookery, and thought that the inspectors had made out but a poor case. The Board decided to defer consideration of the matter till next meeting. School Attendance Act: The Minister wrote asking if the Board saw any objection to the school rolls being used by the truant officers in dealing with children absenting themselves from school at Court, thus saving the masters from personal attendance. It was decided to reply to the effect that the Board saw no objection to the course proposed. Books Required Under New Syllabus: The chief inspector vwote statins; that as the new syllabus was already in force, and would come into operation in most of the large schools »within a few weeks, it was indispensable that books suitable for the new courses of instruction in geography and history should be authorised without delay. The books recommended were enumerated, and t'he Board decided that they should be secured at the earliest possible opportunity. Mr. Harris thought the matter should be given a little more consideration before coming to a decision. New Schools: The inspector's report, in which he could not see his way to recommending the establishment of a school at Maropiu, was referred to the petitioners, and the inspectoi was asked to report on the proposal to remove a school building, as asked for by the residents of Rangiurn and To Matai. An application from Wainui was ordered to stand over and one from Terapa was declined. Increased Accommodation: The residents of Aoroa applied for increased accommodation at the local school, and Mr. Stallworthy, wlic spoke in support, said that 23 children of school age wero unable to attend simply because there was no room to. them. It was decided to apply tc the Government for a grant for the work. Nelson-street Infant Classes: The chief inspectoi, reporting on the application for increased accommodation in the infant department at the Nelson-street school, stated that he could not recommend the granting of the application on the ground that there was

ample room for the children in adjacent city schools. It was decided to decline the appiiWest: The Board, > response to an application, decided to instruct ttie foreman to carry out necessary repairs ana to apply to the Government for a grant to enable additional accommodation being provided for. . . Technical Education and Manual Training Mr. George George, director of technical education and manual training, conterreu with the Board on matters relating to roe department under his control. On it/*""* pointed out that the grants of £275 and £3BU for the provision of district high schools and technical education and manual training at Waihi and Cambridge respectively, were totally inadequate to meet the requirements ft was decided that Mr. George should confer with the school committees with a view to deciding whether the money should be spent for high school purposes or on manual training and technical education. Mr. George informed the Board that the equipment mentioned on the lists submitted by the department in connection- with the classes tor instruction in mechanical engineering wouia not meet the requiremets, while the grant of £690 was totally inadequate. He thougnt that at least £2200 would be required, otherwise it would be simply playing with the matter. Tho most up-to-date appliances were necessary for the satisfactory instruction of pupils in engineering. After a brief discussion the Board decided to proceed as far as possible to the equipment of this branch with the £690 granted, and to apply for further monetary assistance. v Teacher's Residence at Epsom: The LP' som School Committee wrote urging the Board to proceed with the erection of a teacher's house at Espom. and pointing out that a sum of money had been earmarked for the purpose. It was stated that a sum considerably in excess of the special grant had been spent in connection with the Epsom school, and the Board decided to inform the committee that it could not see its way to complv with the request. .. The' Retiring Chairman: Before declaring the meeting closed, Mr. R. Hobbs said that as it was possible that as one of the retiring members he would not be returned to office, lie wished to take the opportunity of thanking the members for the courtesy extended to him by them and for the assistance they had always rendered him during his term as chairman. Mr. C. J. Parr said that while there had been differences on matters before tho Board, members nevertheless recognised the good services that Mr. Hobbs had rendered, having ungrudgingly given bis time to the duties of his office and of education. He therefore proposed that an appreciation should be placed on the records. Other members having spoken in a similar strain, the proposal was unanimously adopted.