BACKWARD PUPILS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15824, 22 January 1915, Page 7

BACKWARD PUPILS.

NEW MODEL SCHOOL.

CHIEF INSPECTOR'S PLAN

APPROVED BY THE BOARD

A new departure is about to be made by the Auckland Education Board in the direction of giving special attention to backward children.

The matter was brought, before yesterday's meeting of the board by the chief inspector. Mr. K. K. Mulgan. who drew attention to various matters in connection with the Training College regulations recently issued.

Mr. Mulgan stated that regulation 4. clause b. sub-clause IV., provided for a mode! school consisting of a class of backward children of school age, with not more than 40 children on the roil. 'Ibis ho regarded as a very essential addition to the present types of model schools, as in many schools there were backward children who required special treatment. lie referred not so much to pupils who owed their want of progress to faulty teaching or lack of opportunity, but rather to those whose general intelligence and aptitude for the acquisition of knowledge, though not sufficiently defective to warrant their enrolment in the special schools already provided, were distifktly below those of the normal child. Such children were a source of much anxiety to teachers and a fruitful cause of weakness in school progress. To treat them as normal children was fair neither to themselves nor to the school community, and yet in iivst cases they were so treated, fur teachers had heretofore received little or no .special training in dealing with this typj of child. The presence in the normal school of such a class would be a valuable addition to the machinery already iii operation, and he recommended its inclusion amongst the type of model school required by the regulation.

There were, however. Mr. Mulgan went on to say, several obstacles to be surmounted before the class could be successfully established. To begin with, the children would-require snecial accommodation, as their <xvork should consist mainly of manual occupations, for which liberal rloor space was of- prime importance, and none of the available rooms in the Normal School was sufficiently large to satisfy requirements. Further, the room must be suit-ably equipped. Most important of all, however, was the teacher, for. unless he or she possessed special qualifications and had received special and efficient training for the work, the effort could not be fully successful, and, so far as he was aware, it would be difficult to procure in the Dominion the type of teacher required. Mr. Mulgan recommended that the details of the matter be gradually completed, so that everything may be in readiness to begin work early next year. To this end it should be possible to procure a suitable room in the vicinity of the Normal School, and arrange for its proper equipment. The salary offered for the work began at £230 per annum and rose by annual increments of £10 to £250. If the board viewed the suggestion favourably, he would endeavour, whilst in England, to secure the services of someone suitably and adequately trained for the position. In the Old Country the salary named should attract a desirable teacher.

Mr. A. Burns said that he considered that Mr. Mulgan should be highly complimented on his proposal. The dull children had not really received instruction in the past, and often they were the butt of their fellow-scholars.

The chairman. Mr. G. J. Garland, emphasised the necessity of proceeding with caution. It was fortunate that the chief inspector was going to England, where a. suitable teacher might be found. They had not heard of such a teacher in NewZealand, and later on local teachers could be trained for the work. The chief inspector and he had given the matter careful consideration during the past 10 days. On the suggestion of Mr. E. C. Banks, Mr. Mulgan was authorised to appoint a suitable teacher. The report was then adopted.