THE ROYAL COMMISSION ON TEACHERS' SALARIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2454, 27 March 1901, Page 54

THE ROYAL COMMISSION ON TEACHERS' SALARIES.

A PROTEST AGAINST CENTRALISATION. At Thursday's meeting of the Education Board discussion was resumed on the telegram received from the Minister of Education to the effect that ao he intended to appoint a royal commission to consider the question of salaries, he did not fcee the necessity for having a conference of representatives of education boards.

Mr T. Mackenzie, M.H.R., said the moiicii he wifched to move was eomtwhat viiiierent fiom the one he proposed at the meeting on the previous day. The motion lie lwl sii'ce drawn up was this: — "In order that the Government may fulfil their promises of last session, and. also comply with the lequirements of section 2 of 'The Public School Teachers' Salaries Act, 1900,' this bosud earnestly requests tl:e help and co-operation of the various education boards in New Zealand in urging the Government to grant to the boards equal representation with them on the royal commission about to be set xip to inquire into and report on educational matters." The meaning was that if the Government had three representatives on this royal commission the education boards should have three also. This was merely asking the Government to carry out what the Go\eminent promised to members of Parliament during last session, and as provided for in the Public School Teachers' Act. He thought that in an important matter of this sort, when an arrangement had been arrived at between" the Government and the House, and a bill had been permitted to go through on that distinct understanding, the boards 4iould db all they could to see that the undertaking that had been given wa3 carried nut. If the motion was not worded as members liked, he would willingly re-draft it so sis to meet their wishep. He thought this motion wa-s better than the one he had previously moved, and asked leave to substitute it. The Rev. P. B. Fraser thought they ought hardly to suggest that og^osition existed between the Government aiid the boards. The boards were not in opposition to the Government, and what they wanted was not equal but adequate representation. Mr Sim thought the word "adequate" was preferable to- " equal.'' The motion was substituted as moved.

Mr T. Mackenzie, in speakiug to the motion, read clause 2 of " The Public School Teachers' Salaries Act, 1900," which was as follows: — "In respect to any amount appropriated by Parliament in addition to the statutory grant, the same shall be expended in payment of salaries only after consultation with the several education boards, and as may be agreed upon by tbe said boards and the Minister of Education." This clause, he remarked, Was very clear, and embodied no end of promises of a similar nature that the boards were to be consulted in the framing of a measure that would suit the colony in the matter of education That was the gist of the whole thing, and if he were to speak for an hour he could not make it clearer. The intention of the Government was to set up a royal commission, in the appointment of which the boards were to have no voice, but whose decision would probably largely influence Parliament in the future administration of education in the colony. That being so, he felt strongly that the education boards should at any rate make one more effort to have a voice in the conference that had been promised after a very severe fight by members of education boards who happened to be in Parliament at the time.

Mr Snow seconded the motion. He was quite satisfied that Mr Mackenzie was taking a step in the right direction. At different times they had heard a good many adverse remarks about members of education boards being members of Parliament, but here was an instance of the great usefulness of having them there. After hearing the clause of the act read there was, to his mind, no doubt that the boards ought to be consulted, and consequently that they should be represented in the commission.

The Rev. P. B. Fraser would like to say a few words in support and explanation of the proposal. It had been his intention to give notice of motion asking the Government to appoint a royal commission to inquire- into the whole working of the Education Act. The Government had now intimated their intention to appoint a royal commission to inquire into the matter of a colonial scale of salaries for teachers, and, apparently, as a side issue, it was said they were going to inquire into other matterp. Now, it was the "other matters" *hot he wanted to know about, and what he desired was to specially as-k the board to rail the Government's attention, if a royal commission were appointed, to the subjects that the commission should inquire into, because if they inquired into one aspect or point of a question the comlr.ission could find what they liked, and could make cut quite sufficient to support a particular view that was in vogue in Wellington, and mischief result ; whereas A the commission were set up to inquire into the working of the Education Act in all its bearings, considerable good would be done, and ought to be done. The present act had been in operation for a quarter of a century ; several boalds had been working under it upon their own lines, and there had been no means by which their various experiences had been brought together. Tbe consequence was that ggine were C£yjn£ out im ft&§ thing aud

some for another, while the teachers, who had got the ear of the Minister, were clamouring for a colonial scale of salaries, as though the be-all and end-all of education was to get particular salaries for the teachers. The question of salaries was no doubt important, but the commission ought to inquire into the method of appointing teachers, and teachers should be given an. opportunity of representing their views on that matter. His opinion was that an effort was being made to lay hold of what might be termed the blunders of education boards in order to justify the central authorities in Wellington grasping the appointment of all the teachers throughout New Zealand. He was sure that nothing could be more disastrous for teacfiers and for education throughout the colony than that teachers should be appointed ul thijfc way. Another matter was that, in his opinion, the royal commission should be asked to inquire into the whole question of the relationship between primary schools, secondary schools, the university, and the technical education which Mr Mackenzie had so often and so wisely spoken of. They ought to see what advancement could be made in this. Something also, should be done in Dunedin to bring the High School into line with the other educational establishments. Either the Government would have to alter the constitution of that body or somehow reduce the fees. If that were not done he would do the best "he could to establish ,a district high school right below the Dunedin school. It was nothing but monstrous that the children of working men could not in Dunedin get secondary educa- | tion under a "fee of £10, while at the same time the Government of the colony subsidised the High School to something like £11 per pupil. Th" fee of £10 simply made it a class institution. At the Normal School no Irss t'iat 84 pupils were getting secondary education, and if, under the present scheme, they were to get £9 for each pupil that was jjiven. free education in _ the district high school, they could give an excellent education •'<■» the fir <t class eecondary cchool in Dun•■(ljh to compete with the Otago High School. Xothh'g p-Tu'd he wor^e than that they -would !ia\e {') do that, but, as it was, the children cf poor parants in the country districts had a better opportunity of getting secondary education than the children in Dunedin. That was why he thought the commission should inquire into all matters affecting teachers, tuid the relation between the several eohoolf. The High School Board \vas a nominated bod}-, and, as they knew, all nominated bodies were moribund. Ho therefore desired to see the scope of the commiFEion, if appointed, enlarged, so as to take in the whole situation, and not ov\ a small part, such as the salaries of the teacher?. Mr Mitchell said that while he had no intention of voting against Mr Mackenzie's motion, he did net altogether agree with it. He did not think that it actually met the case as it^presented itself to hjs mind. As Mr -Maekpuzio had pointed out, it was promised over and over again in both . Houses that the allocation of this additional grant should be made after consultation with the education boards. That consultation had never taken place. They had had sent down to them a liet of proposed figures without any disclosure of th-j system underlying it. The board declined to agree to them, or to even consider the matter. They were then asked to make -suggestions'. laat might bs termed a consultation, but he submitted that it was purely an. afterthought, and that there had been no true consultation, as re- \ quired by the act. Again, they were also promised that there should be a conference with the board in respect to a colonial scale of salaries, and he would like to draw attention to the manner in which the Minister sought to evade the whole matter. In his last telegram he stated that as the Government had decided to hold a royal commission to report on the matter of colonial salaries, n, Conference was not considered necessary. It would be seen that it was not deemed necessary to comply with the provisions of the Act of Parliament, which required a consultation with the boards before the monkey was divided. This appointment of a royal commission was simply an excuse for not consulting the boards. Again, the Minister said that this conference was in relation to the scale of salaries, and immediately before that he said they were going to appoint a royal commission. The whole tendency of everything that had been done since Parliament rose had been to ignore the boards, and usurp their functions, and place them entirely on one side. The only conclusion that one could come to was that there was a desire to abolish the boards altoeether. Therefore he did not think that Mr Mackenzie's resolution was sufficiently strong. He would have much preferred to see a resolution passed expressing the surprise of the board of the manner in which the Minister had overridden the Act of Parliament, and had set aside the distinct and deliberate promises made by himself and his colleagues. He was very much inclined to move a pretty i strongly-worded amendment, but in order that the board might be unanimous in demanding that the wishes of Parliament should in some measure be complied with, he was prepared to accept Mr Mackenzie's motion.

Mr Nicolson said he found that the grant to Canterbury, with a school roll of 16,097, was £3700, while the grant for Otago. with a school roll of 17,795, or 1698 more pupils than Canterbury, was only £2205. This was utterly unfair, and the board should strongly protest against being treated in such a manner, and strongly urge the Minister to put them on an equal footing with Canterbury.

Mr Mackenzie, in reply, expressed his gratitude to the board for the support they had given the motion. This board, along with the other boards of the colony, were alive to what was going on. He congratulated Mr Eraser on going, into the question that the work taken "by the royal commission should embrace those matters which would have such great bearing upon the future welfare of our children — namely, that the primary and secular schools and universities should be available for the people of the country, and that no special class should enjoy their privileges. They should not bo beyond the reach of the ordinary run of children. They had a High School in this city which was not half filled with children, and that, together with the fact that the children were not being boarded in the institution in connection with that school, showed that there must be something very wrong. Mr Fraser also rightly emphasised the desire to centralise the whole control of education matters in Wellington. He was satisfied that there was no prospect of the work being so well done in the interests of the people by centralising the control in Wellington as uas now the case with the work entrusted to the education boards.

The motion was carried unanimously, and it was decided to send a copy of it to the oUiiW; <ulU£%lioa bQgrdj? jji Ijie CQlony.