EDUCATION BOARD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 5919, 28 January 1881, Page 5

EDUCATION BOARD.

'The adjourned monthly meeting of the Education Beard was held yesterday, and was "attended by Messr3 J. Green (chairman), k.C •ißegg.H. Clark, T. Ferguß, M. Praer, J Walton, M.H.H., W. Elder, K. Kamsay, and Professor Shand.

'-'" The following business was transacted :—

FINANCE COMMITTEE'S BEPOET.

;':The following report from the Finance Com--mittee was adopt ed :—

'Tour .Committee having considered the various matters referred to it, begs to make the following recommendations:—

Tokomairiro.—That the application of this Committee for permission to utilise the old police build.ings on the school site be granted. : "Considering the present financial position of the "Board, your Committee feels compelled to recommend ■that the following applications be declined:—Pine Hill, Pukeuri, and Sawyer's Bay—applications for increased school accommodation; Brighton and ■Oamaru—applications forpurchase of site. : Drybread.—The School Committee in this district ■having applied for permission to sell the old buildings and expend the proceeds in the improvement of the .new building, your Committee would recommend that '■the application be granted, on condition that the school •.ground be properly fenced and that the improvements •to the building be carried out to the satisfaction of the •Board's architect.

Whare Flat—ln view of the rapidly-increasing "population in this district and the limited school accommodation, your Committee recommends that the present residence be added to the schoolroom, and ' ihat accommodation for the teacher, in accordance ""with plan No. la, be provided. Tapanui.—That the application of the School ComTnittee in 1 this district, for a refund of the sum of •. £2 15s paid to the late teacher for trellis-work, be "declined.

Green Island.—Your Committee would recommend "that the sum of £10 be granted towards procuring •Jiew furniture for this school.

APPOINTMENTS,

The following appointments were sanctioned: -i-James Kerr Menzies, head master, Tapanui, ■■vice Heriot, resigned ; William Ridland, head "master, Hamilton, vice Giles, left the service; Charles G. Hunt, head master, Blackstone 'Hill, .vice Graham, left the service; Leonard Uockayne.head master. Grey town, vice Brown, 'iresigned; W. H; Wicks, head master, Drybread, vice Allison, left the service; Joseph 'Stewart, head maßter, Saddle Hill, vice M'Bride, left the service; Mary P. Simpson, aecond assistant, Palmeraton, new appointment ; William M'Elsea, first assistant, Green Island, vice Clark, promoted ; Christie a Scott, :fourth assistant, ITorbnry, new appointment; JaDe Sim, echoolmhtress, Pukeiviti, new appointment ; Christina F. Menziea, mistreaa, -Otakia, new appointment; Mary M'Laren, mistress, Milton, vice Ritchie, left the service ; Catherine Livingston, pupil" teacher, Normal School. , ' : , .. BESIGNATIONS. , The following resignations .were.accepted :— '■"Mary- S. Johnston; pupil teacher, Albany ''street; R. B. Heriot, head master, Tapanui; "W; W. Broivn. headmaster, Greytown ; Mary M'Laren, third assistant, Arthur street; Geo. "8. Pope, head master, Macraes; Peter Leitch, ; 'head master, Kuri Bush. ' HIGH SOHOOLS BOAHD OF GOVEHNOB3. " Professor Macgregor and Mr James Pulton ;owere re-elected as members of the Diinedin ..High Schools Board of Governors; and Mr ■^George Sumpter as member of the Waitaki ! JBoar4,of Governora. .' : ' ,".'.' . ' i i; THEBEbENT SOHObL'OOSIMITTEB ELEOTION. ' v-i'.-Mr'E, Nathan wrote"as follows,:—- .■ ;V' '~; ■■'.--."•■-'-Dnnedin, January 23th, 1881; Education Board of Otagp District.,. V ,-~ - f";"-7; Gentlemen,—l have to bring under your notice a ''- question'regarding1 the' validity of the'election1 of Mr A. B. Livingston as a member of the";DunedinSchbol Committee. I was a candidate at such election, and claim that I was duly elected. The poll as returned by the Returning-officer was—Livingston 355, Nathan

354 votes; but two gentlemen, Messrs Harris Friedlich and Bondgrove—tendered their voting papers (Mr Friedlich giving me five votes and Mr Bondgrove one) to Mr Gillies before he proceeded to scrutinise the result, and ho refused to receive them. I might state that both these gentlemen had received voting papers in the hall before any votes were taken, and as Mr Gillies proceeded to the outer door to collect the votes, they remained in the hall for a little until the crowd dispersed, and then got up and went to deposit their ballot-papers. On doing this they went to Mr Gillies, who declined to receive their ballot, as he had left the place near the door where he collected the papers. Mr Friedlich then handed his ballot-paper to the Chairman, who received it, and Mr Gillies refused to count it, nor was it counted in the vote. I therefore claim that I was duly elected, and I ask the Board to declare that I was duly elected.—l am, &c, E. Nathan. The Secretary stated that he had at once forwarded the letter to Mr Gillies, who was appointed returning-officer at the meeting, and had received the following reply :— Memo, for Secretary Education Board, Dunedin Me Mr Nathan's letter, 25 i 1 I 81

When I was appointed by the meeting as returmngofflcer for the election of seven gentlemen to serve as the Dunedin School Committee for 1881, I at once endeavoured to grasp the situation, and saw the necessity, for prompt decision. Having formed a plan in my own mind, I called the scrutineers together, explained it, and obtained their approval. I then

went upon the platform, explained it to the meeting, moved its adoption, which was seconded and carried iiein. con. The plan then became the meeting's determination of the mode of election, and I only its servant to see it carried out. I believe by law the meeting had a, right to determine the mode of election. The plan as adopted was that myself and one of. the scrutineers should take the ballot-boxes to the landing on the stairs leading to the front door, and there receive the voting-papers, those voting passing outside and not allowed to re-enter till the voting was completed; the other scrutineers to deliver one stamped voting-paper to all persons within the building who claimed to be qualified to vote. When it appeared as if all had voted I called upstairs, "Were there any more wishing to vote ?" I heard the words repeated by some person in a loud tone of voice ; and after a few minutes' waiting, and no one coming, and it being called down, " That is all," declared the poll "closed," and people rushed in. On passing through the hall, some parties wished to deliver papers, which I declined to receive, not being presented at the place appointed. I may mention that on returning to the scrutineers' room to examine the votes, Mr Graham, the scrutineer who had charge of one of the votingboxes, claimed the right to vote, he having forgotten to do so at the appointed place. I was myself in a similar position, but as returning-officer decided that neither were then entitled to have their votes taken. The scrutineers agreed with my decision.

John L. Gillies, Returning-officer at meeting.

Mr Elder took it that all that could be done by the Board was to declare the election invalid, if anything whatever was to be done. The Board had no power to do as Mr Nathan desired, namely, to declare him elected. : Ths CiiAißarAN : After the explanation from Mr Gillies, which is a -very full and fair one, the question is whether we should interfere in auy way.

Mr : R.AMSAY said it moat be assumed that the people referred to iv Mr Nathan's letter aoquiesped in the plan of voting adopted by the meeting, and should have taken advantage of it. Besides, he believed1 a new election would havo.no different result, except to give tho successful candidates a larger majority. Mr Begg had no doubt many persons, had been debarred from voting at the meeting, but If they -were to begin to consider complaints about it, they would simply have to open up the whole thing over again. ' j Prcfessor Shand agreed that probably quite as many were debarred from voting as did vote, but he thought the result should now be acquiesced in. ■'• - . ■■■::

Mr Fulton said that Burely the circum stances of the present as well as previous elections should convince people that the eystem of election was thoroughly faulty. There was nothing in the Act to show in what manner the_ election- ehould be conducted. It was left entirely to the meeting to say. Mr Elder proposed—" That Mr Nathan bo written to, enclosing a, copy of Mr Gillies'explanation, and informing him that, having read it, the Board declines to interfere."

, Mr Clabk seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously.- : Mr A. 0, Begq proposed the following further resolution in connection with the same,mat- : ter:—" That in view of the very unsatisfactory working of the present mode of election of school committees, it ia, in the opinion of this Board, absolutely essential that an alteration In this matter be made in the Ac1;, so that committees may in a greater degree repreteut the opinions of the pnblie of ib.9 various school districts^; and that a committee cansiaticg of the Chairman, Messrs Shand, Fulton, and Begg, be appointed to draw tip a list of suggestions indicating the direction in which these alterations should be made." He Baid there were several ways in which the Act Bhonld be amended, snch as in regard to the indefiniteness as ti who should vote; as to the necessity of a nomination and a polling some days afforwards; and also as to the plurality of voting. Mr Kamsay seconded the motion, giving it as . his opinion that the school committee elections should take place at the same time as municipal, county connci), or road beard elections, &3 the case may be. The motion was carried. . TENDEBS. The following tenders were accepted :— Additions to school, Waiareka, stone, Hugh Barclay, L 259; additions, Kaitangata, wood. M'Kinlay and Muir, L 19817*. DEPUTATION. .. Messrs Bobin (Dunedin School Committee), Rutherford (Caverßham), and U'Ren (Kensington) waited upon the Board as a deputation representing a meeting of chairmen of School Committees recently held in connection with the appointment of teachers question. Mr Kobin said' it had been arraugad that he should be the principal spokesman, and in order to save time to the Board, and himaelf he hsd committed what he had to say to paper, as follows:— Considerable dissatisfaction having sprung up in reference to some of the usages and customs of the Board. At a meeting held in Dunedin on the 29th October last the following resolutions among others were passed and sent to thecommitteesin this district :— " 2nd. That the character-book now kept in the Education Office, instead of being kept private, as at present, should be open for inspection to the teachers themselves, and to the Chairmen of School Committees."

" 3rd. That the Education Board be requested to forward to Committees the names of each and every one of the candidatesforany vacancies requiring to be filled." Sixty committees replied, and 49 expressed themselves In favour of the first resolution I have read, and objecting to the Board's character-book as now kept. Some suggests that it should be open to the inspection of teachers in so far as it affects their own character; others that committees should inspect it when it affects applicants for their own district; others that teachers should have an extract from this book of their own character when they apply for it. One committee says it is monstrous to think that two men should have the power privately and in the dark to damn the character of any man or body of men, and declare it is going back to the days of the Inquisition. You may ask—it has been asked, in fact —what have committees to do with the Board's character-book ? We answer, "Much every .way." It affects the interests of the schools under them very materially; it damps the ardour of the teachers, and prevents good and able servants from seeking promotion, in the fear that somehow or other they may not stand well in the eyes of the inspectors ; that the. character remitted to the committee may be cold and unsympathetic, harsh and petulant—very good teacher—scholarship not of a high order—discipline lax—style somewhat mechanical; while all the time the poor teacher has been indulging in the fond belief that in the eyes of the inspector he is all that could be desired. We consider it is placing too much in the hands of any man, and have no doubt the inspectors would be glad to be relieved of the onus of compiling,in its present form this character-book. We object to this book, which we believe is carefully kept under lock and key, and in which is very minutely set down not only the training, classification and experience of each teacher in this district, to which we offer no objection—nay, which we think highly desirable—.but full details of the temperament, disposition, and habits of the teacher, according as it suits, the then present humour of the inspectors—so fully, in fact, that were a description given of the features and personal appearance it would form an excellent "Hue and Cry,".or a Police Gazette.' If a character-book is to be kept, let the teachers know what it contains respecting themselves individually, so that if they are not what they ought to be they may have an opportunity of girding up their loins and striving so that they may attain to the standard of a perfect teacher in the eyes of the inspectors. We object to this character-book also on acoount of its unreliableness. Take one instance that occurred in Dunedin some two or three years ago, when the Board and Committee disagreed about the appointment of a teacher to one of the schools. The Board appointed a gentleman " eminently "fitted to fill the position, and the Committee ultimately agreed to the appointment rather than subject the gentleman selected to any inconvenience. What was the result? The head master before many months asked him to resign on account •of his unsuitableness. Take another case. , A lady anxious to make a change, a,nd her application was not even sent to the Committee, and when called to give a reason, we were told that she was so; cold and unsympathetic as to be utterly unfit to have the charge of infants. This lady was personally unknown to me, but her qualifications were well known to some members of committee.

Inquiries were set on foot, and by more than one committee under whom she has served. Parents of children of whom she had and still has the honour to have charge; head masters who have worked with her, indignantly repudiate such, a character of her. What is her position now while she is under this stigma, placed on her by the Board? She cannot leave her present position, no matter how uncomfortable she may be, knowing perfectly well that whenever she applies for another school the cold and unsympathetic character with which the Board has branded her will prove an effectual bar to her advancement. Take yet another case out of the many I could cite that has come under my own observation, to show the utter unreliableness of this book. Some short time ago the Board sent the Dunedin Committee a list of applicants for one of the most important positions held by female

teachers in this province. After carefully considering the list of applicants, they appointed a lady of whom they had several years' experience, with the result that there has been a very marked improvement in the school, both in point of discipline and the progress of the scholars. In fact the appointment ha 3 been a complete success, and a source of great gratification to the head. master and the Committee; and yet the character tacked to her by the Board is

" harsh and petulant." Suppose she had applied for a situation at a distance, where she was unknown, what would have been the result? Simply this : her application .would have been thrown aside, the lady wronged, and the Committee deprived of the services of a most efficient teacher. The smallest district in the Province would not have her in the face of the inspector's report, as recorded of her in this precious cha-racter-book. Of the third resolution 51 committees approve.. The principal reason I have heard assigned for the :Board's procedure in.this matter is, that although the Duncdin and one or two other Committees may be able to choose from all certificated candidates, yet it would be- a dangerous thing to do in all cases, and, they: (the Board) cannot make any distinction. What parents so callous and careless that: they are unfit to choose who shall teach their chUdrehi?, ,It is true there are ono-.or two committees,in the district very, very stupid.indeed—so full of grammar that all the sense appears... to-have, been .drivenoii£ of them.; But as one swallow'iloes'not' make a'summer,'so surely you would not deprive some 130 or 140 committees of this privilege because one or two of them

&ro somewhat dull. Judge rather of what they wO uld do by what they have done. They have elected thus honourable Board, whom I have at once the honourand privilege toaddress, and although we are now condemning some of their regulations, and respectfully seekt heir alteration, yet is there anyone here or elsewhere who will gainsay the statement that the Board of Education for this district is a credit to those who elected it ? It has also been urged tlmt were all thenames of the eligible candidates forwarded to committees no outside teacher would have a chance, but known candidates who have served under a committee would be promoted—and rightly so too, I think, if they have one fitted to fill the vacant post. But what is the case? Take the Dunedin George street School as an instance. Mr Jl'Nicoll, head master—was he in the service of the Committee? No; he came from Victoria. Sir Bennett, second master, where did he spring from ? Why, Victoria. Hiss Blakely, also a Victorian ; Mr Jl'lean, a Victorian too. In fact the whole staff hail from the sister isle. Committees, as a rule, care not where candidates come from so long as they can find in the list an efficient teacher. I need not say more. I trust I have said enough, with what may he said by other members of the deputation, to convince the Board that some modification of their present plans are needed, and have been asked respectfully to point out. As yet committees in this district have not, like those of other districts, taken advantage of that clause in the Act (it is the last part of the 45th clause) which provides that committees may recommend teachers to the Board for appointment, and although the Board Is not bound to appoint a teacher so recommended, yet I opine the Board would be very careful in refusing to appoint a teacher so recommended. One word more.

I wish it to be distinctly understood that I believe wo have in Mr Petrie and Mr Taylor most efficient inspectors—gentlemen whom I respect and esteem, men who have raised the status of our schools, and deserve the thanks of the whole community.

Mr RrjTHEBFORD also spoke on the sui ject. He instanced oce case, as showicg the unreliability of the character-book, in which a teacher who was an habitual drunkard had been appointed to a school without a hint beirjg given as to this failing. He thought it beyond the power of any inspector, in the course of a flying visit, to make a good judgment of the character of a female teacher, for instance; even a husband, in the course of a whole lifetime, could not diacovor the real character of his wife.—(Laughter ) Mr U'Een also addressed the Biard.

In reference to tho question of forwarding the names of all applicants to committees, both Mr EUTHERFORD and Mr TJ'Een supported the proposal to aeud down all the names. Both gentlemen Btated that, as far as the Cominittets they were connected with were concerned, theße had not the slightest cause of complaint in any dealings with the Boaid.

After a long conversational discussion between members of tho deputation and the Board, it was agreed to consider the resolutions submitted, a&d the deputation then withdrew.

Mr Folton pointed out that if this chatactf rbook were dono away with the Board woold have no opportunity of judging of the charae'er of their teachers. If the book were not tbe.'O to rpfer to, the inspectors wou'd have to be called in and their verbal opinions askfd, which, after all, would reilly amount to.the same thing. Another thiner he might add with regard to what he had seen of the character-book \ca<? that tho characters of the teachers whom he personally knew were hit off exactly with wonderful fairness, and certainly in no unkindly spirit.—(Hear, hear.) It was agreed to leave the matter to a committee to report, the Committee, consisting offclesera Elder, Fulton, and Green; and the following report was brought up at the meeting :— - ■ ■ ■

Tour Committee having carefully considered the two proposals submitted to the Board by a deputation representing Chairmen of School Committees, beg to submit the following reasons for arriving at the resolutions adopted by the Board :—

1. That it is absolutely necessary that the Board should always be able to command the confidential opinion of its inspectors as to the character and capabilities of its teachers.

2. That it would be very inconvenient to have to call upon the inspectors on every occasion of an appointment for such a report, either verbally or in writing. 3. That it is therefore desirable that these reports should be recorded in a book, so as to prevent misunderstandings. 4. That the book in question, to be of any service at all, must of necessity contain a full and correct statement of the moral conduct as well as of the capabilities of the teachers referred to. .

5. That such being the case, it is apparent that on some few occasions it may contain information the publication of which might be injurious to the prospects of those most deeply interested—viz., the teachers; or, on the other hand, prevent a frank and truthful opinion being given by the inspectors. 0. That the Board has every reason to believe that the inspectors do fairly inform teachers of the opinions which are subsequently entered in the book.

That it is exceedingly undesirable that the names of those teachers whom the Board would not be prepared to appoint should be forwarded to school committees.

That there are frequently a considerable number of applicants who are quite unfitted for the situation under consideration.

That in the interests of these teachers themselves, as well as of the Committees, it is better to withhold their names, as it would only entail trouble and disappointment to allow thev-a to go forward. That the forwarding «f the names of those considered ineligible could not possibly be of any benefit to tho Committees, as should one of these be chosen the Board would not mako the appointment, while it might prove injurious to the prospects ot the teacher.

That in every case the names of all those deemed suitable are forwarded without any consideration except status, character, and qualifications. That the present system has in point of fact been tacitly approved of by the large majority of the Committees in this district.

Mr Eldeb, with reference to the characterbook, said be thought there could be no objection to a teacher receiving an extract from the book in reference to himself.

Mr Begq and Mr Fpi/TON pointed out that the Board might require to be careful in Ibis matter, for there was the law of libel to consider. It was a question what constituted " publication" in Buch matters.

The Chairman argued that if a master formed an opiuion about his servants, no servant; could either as a right or as a matter of justice ask to be (supplied with that opinion. Tbe Board were employers of teachers, and had a right to hold their opinion of their servants. On the motion of Mr Ramsay, seconded by Mr Elder, it was carried—" Toat alter giving the suggestion re the charaoter-book consideration, the Board does not consider it desirable to make any alteration in the direction indicated."

ACCOUNTS. Accounts were passed for payment amountincr t0L6009 7s6d.