APPOINTMENT OF TEACHERS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18612, 21 July 1922, Page 3

APPOINTMENT OF TEACHERS

SCHOOL COMMITTEES’ POSITION. A DEPARTMENTAL CIRCULAR. It is a frequent complaint among school committeemen that they have little say in the selection of teachers, but a circular received from the Education Department by the Otago Education Board at its meeting yesterday was intended to show that the committee’s powers m this , respect may not be as limited as is generally supposed. This circular, which dealt with the engagement of teachers, stated, inter alia, that it was incumbent upon the board to forward to the school committee a statement of the length of service and other qualifications of each teacher proposed to be transferred l or selected for the appoint-, ment, and to send also, where applications had been called, the names of all teachers applying for the appointment. The committtee would thus have an opportunity of discussing the board’s' selection and making any recommendation that it desired. If another applicant than the one selected by the board was chosen the board must then reconsider the appointment, and,_ on the recommendation of the senior inspector, might accept the recommendation of the committee. It was not correct to say that either the board or the committee must accept the teacher standing highest on the grndinglist. Mx W. R. Brugh, who had drawn up a motion, critical of the circular, said the circular was misleading. It would appear that there was much more power given to the committees and the boards than was actually the case. The hoard was practically tied down to the grading list. Of course, there were exceptions in which they were not tied down to tho list, but the exceptions - were hardly worth consideration. Probably in the course of time the grading list would reach a stage where it would give more satisfaction than it did at present, but he had always looked on it as an extraordinary document. The motion was seconded by tho Hon. D. T. Fleming. Tho Chairman (Mr J. Wallace) said that they had always done the best they could for the committees in the selection of teachers, and they had always done the best possible for the teachers. The motion, which was as follows, was carried unanimously“ That this board is of opinion that committees have no rights in tho choosing of teachers excepting where (a) two or more names equal on tho grading list are sent on, or (b) where in any case under sub-section B of _ section 72 a committee may express an opinion or make a recommendation which the board shall take _ into consideration before making an appointment; and that the circular is misleading in that proviso (a) very rarely happens, and under proviso (b) in such a case the boards and senior inspectors would require to negative their already expressed opinions to give effect to the committees’ recommendations.”