THE POWERS OF EDUCATION BOARDS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13209, 16 February 1905, Page 10

THE POWERS OF EDUCATION BOARDS.

Sin,—ln mv tetter of the 2nd inst. I pointed out that the central department in Wellington had taken from education boards the power to erect* a new school or to add to any existing school building, and also that all teachers 1 salaries werff now fixed by act. Tho next power to be taken away from boards is the control of tho training colleges for teachers, although the Inspector-general. (Mr Hogben) failed in that attempted cncroachmcnt during tho last and previous sessions. Ho will persist and finally succccd. Tho inspectors aro also to be taken away from the boards. In that connection I may as well quote tho cxact words Mr Hogben used in," his memorandum to tho Education Committee, dated 28th October, 1904. He said: "It must be remembered that tho inspectors aro officers of tlio boards,'and not, as they ' should be, of tlio Central Department." When tlio House last session was gradually filching away all powers from the boards I moved the following resolution That either tlio boarcla should be trusted lo do their work or else the whole responsibility should be taken over by tho Government." 1, did so because it .would make the position logical. If everything is to bo centralised, _ why continue tho cost and farce of haying Education Boards at all? That is exactly as it is in Victoria— a colony that- has been quoted in our Parliament as an example of excellent educational management,—and whilst you may not hope for anything better from the enemies of education boards in tho House one expects better things from members of tho New Zealand Educational Institute. Wc find that- a- Mr Tyrcr moved—"That the appoint monk and control of all teachers he placed in the hands of a central department," and all the speakers cxccpt Messrs W. Davidson, G. M'Morran. and Macdonald spoke in favour of it. Mr Macilonald said that when he left A r ictoria appointments wero purely political under tho centralisation policy. 'The motion happily was lost.

_ It may lie. well hi; this point to inquire into the results of the centralised system, and compare thorn with-what has obtained in this colony under the management of committees and Education Boards; nnd here I may say that the people in New Zealand should not bo deceive:! as to what :s contemplated. Let the. Inspector-general protest to the contrary as he will, his who!© policy .is lo centralise eventually all powers m his own hands in Wellington, and to destroy Education Boards as tlfey now exist. .Did I hold any other opinion I would not (alto Ihe trouble of writing these letters, and my whole objcct in doing so is to save from destruction a system which has made our colony envied by the whole of Australia— a system which has turned out our young men nnd wemen fit to fight their way successfully in every country under the sun. And all this is now threatened bv a capable, restless, energetic theorist. Coming had; to the investigation regarding the relative merits of Victorian and New Zealand systems, I will quote the opinions of Mr Inspector Uoyen, published after a visit by that; gentleman to' Victoria in 1902, and-also from the report of the Director of Education (.Mr I'. Tate) presented lo both Houses S( Parliament of tho.State of Victoria, in 19C4. Mr Tate had visited New Zealand for tho purpose of reporting to the 'Victorian Government on our system of education. You thus obtain from entirely different standpoints tho views of two capable "Kii. Taking first .Mr Roycn's'report, after referring to the ill-lighted, ill-designed schoolrooms in Victoria, with their comfortless desks and seats, narrow, dismal lobbies, and unkept school grounds, ill-paid teacher, ne speaks of the abuse of the pupil teaeiier system—"a system,'' he asserts, "that has. done preat harm to real education in the .State, and that has again and again boon condemned by the experts of the department |as well as by the educated laity of the community.- That it should have survived so long-tho strenuous, intelligent criticism that bus been levelled against it is proof of the difficulty of moving a great department and of the unwisdom of centralism"in one city the entire -f a nation's education, And more inertia is not the or.lv evil of centralisation: another is its blip-'ntina; influence oil local interest. In New Zealand, everybody 'is interested in education because everybody shares In its management. Every' school has its committee elected by the householders of the district; every .member of a committee lias a vote for the members of the Education Hoard of the education district; and, subject to the .General ■ regulations of the Deportment of Education, the Education IMawf controls the educational affairs "of the district. The cycle is thus complete, and local interest is a living part of the system. There is nothing like it in Australia. In Victoria and the. other Australian States there are no school committees and no Education Boards, for the Beards 'of Advicc answer to neither and, so far ae I could gather, hayo not a whit of influence, whether for ..good or for >evil. Tho department is everything and its influence everywhere, and every school is regarded, not as a loeaj institution in which every resident, has a living interest, biifc'ss part, and parcel of a. lingo machine controlled from the capital city. For more than a quarter of a centur.v - tho people have had little or. no part in tho. government .of their, schools, and naturally they have in. great measure ceased to take an interest in either their intellectual or their material welfare. .That, at anyrate. is how, it struck me: and I do not hesitate to say that in my judgment the Australian Departments of E'lucation are pursuing a- policy that is' highly detrimental to tho - intellectual--lift* of the States. A. policy that strangles local interest, whether in educational, or other affairs, is doomed to failure."

Coming now to Mr Tp.te, his delight with t.lio whole principle of management by committors and boards is everywhere evident. What him particularly was this: " One function of .tho committee, which will no doubt seem strange to Victorians, is- ita power-in -connection wit-h tho selection and apoointment of teachers. In Tic-' toria the people served by tho school have no voice in tho'selection of tho teacher: his appointment is purely a departmental niat-ter." Again, lie .says:—"lt will ; ba observed that ■ in ' New Zealand .all the persons employed in the actual- teaching or supervision or administration are the servants of t?ib bonrd, and not of the central department.-" -Writing; about the work unon buildings and upkeep, he remarks:—"This is in striking contrast; to the system followed invrespect-to ;buildings in 'Victoria' during tho post 15-j-cars, and,'. ijj a. consequence. the: rfistreasinpproblem of overtaking belated repairs is not in cvideneeJ'in New Zealand." That/ "of- course,' is as it stands,

' About the -public interest in education lie ; observes: "It, will be : seen how radically diffcient tho Now Zealand 'system is from that ,of Victoria, One" fact which strikes the most casual observer is the intense interest taken by tlio public of New Zealand iu educational questions. There is little doubt tint this is due mainly to the system of local, management. In Victoria, the school is the \Stato school,' and its;efneiency or inefficiency is a concern of a faroff, slow-moving department. The most ordinary concerns, such as the erection of a fence or a porch, a couple of coats of paint, .arc matters for inspection and report and interminable delays. In New Zealand the school is regarded by the people of a district as 'our. school'; tho provincial hoard and the- local committee, both repre- ■ senting the householders, are responsible for keeping the building in repair, for providing for the comfort of teacher and children, and for maintaining the eflicwncy of their school. . . How to make the schools minister directly to the needs of tho -com-' munity is the important matter, but this 'Will never bo done satisfactorily while the school system is left , wholly in the hands of officials and politicians, with the parents and the organised manufacturing and commercial interests holding aloof. Tho schoolmaster and' tho departmental export must come out of their'educational isolation and find out what tho world of strugglo and' action outside the school requires of them." Mr Tate deals noxt with the system of of Advice in the following manner, and it is well that wo should reflect on what ho says, because tho position into which our Education Boards are to be thrust is to bo a sort of cross between a school committee and a Victorian Board of A(hice. This is what Mr Tate says: The only approach to local control in Victorian education, is in the Board of Advice. Iso ono would, I think, seriously contend that the present Board of AdTiee systom is satisfactory, either to the depnrtmen and the public or to the members of tho boards themselves. The boards have comparatively little to do, and therefore it is no wonder that members who arc genuinely interested in educational progress, and' who' dosiro to help, are soon discouraged out of the boards, till a contested election becomes a rarity, and in somo cases it is impossible to get oven nominee members. Tho Boards of Advice should certainly l>e given increased dutic-s and responsibilities or lie abolished altogether. Hoiv can intelligent inon and women, with a sense of tho value, of their timo, bo expectod to travel long distances to attend meetings of' a board whoso chicf duties aro a few quarterly in-, vcstigations of dofauit in attendance, the granting of four odd holidays to schools, and the supervision of repairs to an amount liot exceeding per annum £5 upon each school 1!" It will be urged in repiy that boards and committees are not to lie greatly changed, and that they still have powers for good. \V<! take what is daily occurring as 'indicative of what is likely to be, if not effectively resisted. Tho central department is daily interfering in tlio smallest detail of the _ administration of the boards, while studiously ignoring their most urgent necessary wants. From ono end 'of Now Zealand to the other the daily papers reveal the utmost dissatisfaction with the central office. Oorrespondenco is unanswered by the " faroff, slow-moving department," or if the department is moved at all, then it is by tho aid of the politician and political influence, as obtains according to Mr Macilonald- in Victoria. Southland, Auckland, Ota go, and other districts aro protesting against tlio neglect to give absolutely necessary school accommodation. The central department intends eventually to place the charge of buildings under the Public Works Department. That js what is done in Victoria now, and in that- eonncction I quote from Mi' Tate's comparison of that system with ours:—"l should ho sorry to think that public appreciation of the work of the teachers of Victoria is reflected in the acrommodation provided for their .families. It is not, I think, an exaggeration to say that of some 25 residences which I noted in different districts of Act',' Zealand the worst wa? to the best I have sCen in Victoria. It is, perhaps, worthy of remark that these resiliences and grounds have been provided at the instance not of departmental officials, but of Education Boards and commitiees representing the world of business. " Reverting for a. moment to tho small schools not being granted to several education districts, the reply is.-doubtless lo be found in Mr Hogfccn's' memorandum at the close of the report of the Education Committee, in which he said: "That no new school with a probahlo average attendance of less than 20 or 25s children shall be established within six (V 10) miles of any school, unless it is first shown to the satisfaction of tha Minister that there i» no other means of providing efficient and regular instruction for tho children concerned." In the same memorandum the Inspector-general gave it as his opinion that not more than. onefifteenth of the yea'rly building grant should be used by the boards for small alterations or'minor Now, even the gentlemen on the Education Committee who supported the Inspector-general agreed To permit boards to spend one-seventh in that ! manner, and it is probably,owing' to the opinion ilield .by tho official head that although it was approved by Parliament that boards should be allowed to spend one.;seventh, no notification has yet been received by Education - Boards that they shall enjoy , that partiallyrestored opportunity for usefulness. It is not, as Mr Seildon said at Vvaitara, that the education votes arc cut down in the total: but we know that the votes are so tied'down by "red tapoism".as to prevent the moneys being used where most urgently required. 1 might here add that. I feel persuaded that Mr Seddon, when he made that speech—blaming Education Boards for not erecting schools,—had not been notified by the officers of the department of the extent, to which the powers of the boards hod been interfered with, otherwise he would never have made it, And this is what we experience now: that even although beards may have money sufficient for all the. necessary work, and money over, they are prevented from doing the one tiling most necessary with it— namely, the erection of a school where no provision has been made for educating the children of settlers or miners. As a consequence of .this, the public will see money spent iu other directions, and not understand why that is done which is not at all urgently required, whilst the absolutely necessary work is left undone. This might be not inaptly illustrated by what is going on ecclesiastically in the city of London. At one time the most of the people in that city resided within the sound of the Bow Bells. There aro many churches within the city which in -times past have been very bountifully endowed by prosperous citizens. The revenues now d.erived' from some of these properties are vory great; still,'according to the terms of tho bequest, the money has to be spent on these 1 city churclios. Meantime, through the changes that have occurred, few people now live wjthin the city, and many 'of these churches are little used, yet the money must be spent on them; aiid some are now so overloaded with deepvations, etc., that the trustees aro bewildered as-to how to get rid of the accruing cash, whereas if power had been' given to expend some of . the wealth in following the people further out great good would "have resulted Iu conclusion, may I ask this question, From wlienco comes the impelling forcc for improvement? Is it from central departments, or 'from tho outer practical local workers? .-Victoria, New South Wales, and, South Australia, with- centralised' government, arc, according to-Mr InspectorGoyen. making no progress. New Zealand, according to Mr Tate, with its keen local interest of committee and board administration, is iloim; splendid work. In tliis colony the best men in it are proud to work, on school committees. The calibre of our men on these bodies, .if we begin with tlio city of Dunedin.' is as hiirh as, if not higher than, you. find connected with any other form of local government. These committeemen arc the vanguard of-educa-tional progress, building up and developing, never vesting in their onward march of practical work. If wc are to hold our own wo must hold fast to that which has stood tho of time and proved to. bo good; and all Ot-ago should resist •• tho .weakening'of influences which in the past have done so well.—l am,"etc., ; Thomas Mackenzie. Allan Grange.