MORE TEACHERS NEEDED

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 25048, 11 November 1944, Page 4

MORE TEACHERS NEEDED

KINDERGARTEN PROBLEMS An appeal for more students t-o supply the ever-increasing number of free kindergartens in the city is made by the Auckland Kindergarten Association, which is hard put to it to lind the necessary teachers. r It is pointed out that the war has called up thousands of fathers of children of kindergarten age, leaving their mothers to shoulder the responsibilities of the family. In many cases mothers also are doing war or other essential work. The free kindergartens open wide their doors to these children, thus relieving the mothers of some of tlieir burdens. For this reason the strain on the association is greater than ever before, the number of kindergartens has had to be greatly increased, and the demand for teachers becomes more and more pressing Apart from the urgency of* the positiono. kindergarten work offers an interesting and attractive career for girls

who after the war will need to find an outlet for their energies., _., . At the present time there are 19 free kindergartens in Auckland cityVand suburbs, considerably more than'in. any other city in the Dominion. The State helps the movement by subsidies and by an allowance to students of £SO a year if they are living at home and £75 a year if they are away from home. The diploma given by the association » recognised by the educational tiesThp training course, which covers wo years of theoretical and practical work, embraces a wide range of. subjects, covering psychology, hygiene, nature study, English, education, history, art and hand-work, singing and musicianship. It provides. in tact, a ; cultural course for the girl herself, valuable not only intellectually, but for factors involved and for its broadening influence on character.