OUR NATIONAL SCHEME OF EDUCATION. TO THE EDITOR.

Otago Witness, Issue 1584, 1 April 1882, Page 13

OUR NATIONAL SCHEME OF EDUCATION. TO THE EDITOR.

Sia,~Amoii},'srhe other powers granted.to Education boarda, that oi appointing tu\uwrb v* one of f.hu most import int. By the Act, 13oa ds havo tiio entire con« irt •! ot thu matter. 1 hey <tiu a't.o remove a»,v teacher j fviiA oi'O fccnod (.o ja )thec tit any tiaio, with or witl'oiil the teicliui'.-j coprnttt. Tn;« power, though gi..uiud, is hot tfwierailv .v >ii« use of by Bo.irda ; but it ia only a question of liiuu when teachers will bo di-alfc with like railway viunloye* or other Civil «ervants. should thi-s clause uf die Act ever bo carried out, teachers wiJl find themselves in an unenviable position. No doubt it would be advisable in Borne ewes for the Jicard to remove a teaehor who 'had proved a failuie in one district, to give him a chance in another ; but that ia a very different matter from peremptorily removing a mau who is gooting on well to make way for some more favoured individual t. have never heard of thin having been done ; but there is the possibility of saeh a' thing, and while it is possible tho teacher's position is in jeopardy. A groat deal of grumbling: is caused often by the board appointing teacheiy without consulting committee** The board is supposed to consult committeos, bun to what extent tho Act says not. The consulting ofton amounts to a notice that a teacher has boen appointed.' In such cases School Committees feel that they have buen hardly dealt with ; but they have no redress. Tho Board has full power to appoint or to discoiea without, giving a reason. A'> any timu ih« boanl may i &ive a teacher throe months' nooico of diamintal, and the toaehw haa no redress.- Here, I think, the Act is just v, littlo despotic. fcJo long aa teaeheva do, their work well and successfully, ho Board should have the power to dismiss them. It is rather 'humiliating to men posaeß3ing the eduoa* tion and social status of teachers to be the Bervanto ot a Board during its good pleasure only. Under exist* ing arrangements a quarrel wifch^a Board's secretary ot some other officer might be sufticient to determine a teacher'a engagement. It would be such an easy thing for a malicious person holding the position' of an otflcarof an education board to represent a teachw in such a manner as to cause his dismissal. Knowing thmr powev in this direction, some officials have nude the relations between teachers and the Board very constrained. Teachers should be the servants of » central Board only, holding certificates'' from that body, and responsible to that body ' only for appointment or dismissal. Local Boards could recommend, but tho central Board "snpuld ap« point. Then there would he little danger ot appointmerits becoming a question of patronage. It would never do to placo the appointment ot teachers in tha handa of School Committees, thouirh they should bo allowed to select from a. list ot suitable candidate sent from the Board. When a vacancy' occurs at present in Otajro the Board may or may not advertise for applicant"*, but as % rule tho appointment is fixed befpro the advertisement appears. In fuch cases it is a farca , to advertise, aud a slur upon thono teachers whoV'^p,';" the strength of such advertisements, apply for i&4 •* position, this course is merely a sop to those com> mitteeswho have protested',so strongly against the, ' board's actions. But if those" Committees will read" < tho Act carefully they will finft thjs ,the boaftThai full power ovor that matter. • '"tij' ' • ■ •.' '•/,<■' " Coming nexi to School Conimi!;fce.ds',she firakmlog objectionable is the method of eleeiii&gj RbßfiSaawf lative sy6tem of voting is a clumsy piece,', of legfejfct tion ; and should the Act be amended, orte of the first . things altered should be the manner , 'of electing [ School Committees. However fairly the','Al# "ma? j work in large cities in this respect it ac6s i'ery un* J fairly in country districts? Where not more than ft dozen householders are present at an election it is an easy matter for any man to secure his own return hy .simply vojting for himself. There could be no objection .to each, householder having seven votes, pro-vided-that He' could only give one vote to each candidate. The eam'6 'principle might bo applied to com'- | mittees ag to, boards, vlz/>f let one-third of the candidates retire yearly by .ballot.. However, this is not a matter of great importance jv but certainly a change should be made in the manner-, of electing commifcThe powers and duties' of Sch6olComVlttees are 111dofinod—" Subject to the gonera.l supervision and control of the Board, and to ihßbection by an inspector, the Committee shall have thd xnanagovaont ot educational mattora within , the school < district. 1 * Now what does this mean ? The management of educational matters. We hail thought that to' be the especial business of the teacher. Haa the Committee to instruct the teacher how and whon ho shall teach his classes, or when and for what offence he must punish a boy, and the nature of such punishment ? Really aome more light is wanted here. If committees are in very Btrath to have the manage* mtiit of educational matter.-; within the school district the sooner ihe teacher abdicates the better. Teachera muet be thankful that Committees have never claimed their half-defined powers. At present thoii' chief duties benm to be tho " management! " of necessary repairs. Well, if that is all the Committees aro required for, tho whole thing could be managed more effectually by a visiting inspector of works. A monthly visit to each school in the the district, and ft consultation with the teacher,' would be sufficient to find out all that was required. The duties of Committees aro, especially in small country schools, so insignificant; that many of them do not think it worth their while to attend to them. Consequently the money voted by the Board is allowed to accumulatein the nearest bank, instead of going towards improving the school and • pronnds. Conirnitteoa are very fuoiish to allow their funds to accumulate thus, for tiomo sudden change mo/ take place and jill ujjdpont wonpyfi !>e rulli/d in My ailvici- 1 j suho. I cominitfceis H—'ipund all ion can on fic<:e.<wit-,v miprovemonlb, .iml mi m» aixoii'ih .ihow in-muy U> tin uiiuhlml in :> f'ii ik Wln-n f. niui'WiT.' »i'inl )•> (ln-if yairly t)i ,vii'i-t!iioi:t n> tin- H').«ril, tin- li(t.;r U,,i\y ,-h .u!d net* ihai thu money voti-i is Inidf; i'.\| owlcd jiidiiioimly, find Khonld n'lj.'nn' if. to )>u *ti>7r. Kut wtturj, thi* our, v, itoiiut i/C nvwuary to yl « rofmitot ncci-a uiy mi >iiivua nii, oiilier Imni ilu' hunoul ins>po.toi >h t> m-imti-r of wo Us. I Uuik tin- school im*p-r-tor «omM hi asl>od lo fiirnisli f . J i n raiifircl inform'ition oilhour, uutuiii!i> incu^sin j did Liljuiirs. — 1 aui, &v., F. A. J. Deco.n'Dm.

The temperance reformers of Bristol recently took a census of i\ Saturday night public-house attendance in that cily. The enumerators ascertained that between 7 and 11 o'clock 54,074 men, 36,803 women, and 13,415 children entered tho public-houses and beer-shops. Theso figures give a total of 10 1,557, or about half the population of the city. In Paris there is nioolo»l jv second perforation of the Alps, either beneath the Simplon or Mount BUuic into Lombardy, with a view to obtain, in preference to the new German, line of St. Gotliard, tho use of the French railways fovthe transit from the British Islands to Italy, the East and India, and vice vena. A process for condensing wine and selling it in canisters, like condensed milk, is said to have been discovered by Dr Muhl, To make wine, water is added, aud is then, allowed/ to ferment, '■ * •' •