MEW ZEALAND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2808, 8 January 1908, Page 37

MEW ZEALAND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE.

CONFERENCE AT AUCKLAND. AUCKLAND, January 2. The twenty-fifth conference of the New Zealand Educational Institute opened this morning, Mr James Aitken, 8.A., presiding. The visiting members were warmly welcomed by the Mayor (Mr A. Myers), who expressed the opinion that the attitude of the State towards the teachers of New Zealand left something to be de- ' sired, and that tho emoluments of the teaching profession had not been commensurate with tha importance of it 6 work. Ho mentioned that the Auckland City Council had given practical proof in education by granting a site for a technical college, which, with the Normal School, should do much to further the cause of education in Auckland. The President, in the course of an interesting address, eaid that dual management was responsible for the difficulty now experienced in obtaining teachers. A sensible and proper scheme for promotion and, appointment such as existed in every other branch of the public service wa6 needed. He did not for a moment believe that dual management was necessary. Control by school committees was infinitely preferable to a body elected as education boards were. It was immaterial whether che committees or the boards had to go, as the surviving one would be so vitally altered in constitution that it .would be entirely different. He thought that the roll number would be a fairer basis for grading schools and payinc teachers than the average attendance. The President continued : ' ' Tftere is but one more point to which I will call your attention at jfchis time, and I do so, not because I think my felioivteachers are not alive to its importance, but because I have to-day the public ear, and on this matter it is the public that needs educating. At one time it was thought that the .only equitable method of grading schools and paving teachers was according to the average attendance. I am inclined to think that with, proper safeguards against roll-stuffing the roll number would be a fairer basis 'than the average, and I am also' inclined to the idea that, if hard work and plenty of it is "the thing that is sought to be rewarded, then grading might well be in inverse proportion to attendance. The smaller tlie school the bigger the pay. However, that has not -yet been 'proposed. For a long time, an amazingly long time, the pointer seemed to indicate satisfaction with the status quo in this matter, but if many teachers thought as I did on the queston the satisfaction was only seeming. For years I have argued that average attendance alone is not at all a proper basis on which to' determine the grade of a school for the purpose of fixing the payment to teachers for their ■worfc. When the attendance is far from, the dividing line between grades causes which tend to tell unfairly against the average are not so much noticed, but when the -turning point is near -such trifling incidents as a' shower of Tain, a flower show, a raoe meeting, or a performance by a travelling company, all circumstances Iving quite out of the range of the teacher's influence, may be sufficient to determine the grade of the school for a year on the lower instead of the higher scale, and if that is so what may not happen when measles following whooping ccjigh and influenza follows measles, as actually happened this last year in nearly every educational district in the Dominion? (Like payment by results, which proved such a hindrance to true education in England, attendance grading is too rough and ready to be efficient, and the pendulum' has begun to swing towards something that involves more thorough and something that will take the circumstances more fully into consideration. It is, indeed, less the place that requires, to bs sjraded than the teacher. , His experience. hi 6 attainments, his cul-i ture, the indefinable but very real something which we call his personality, these I believe will be the determining factors of the near future which will serve as the grading v marks. Attendance, no doubt, will, to some extent, enter into the question, and rightly so, but it will ,be one instead of being the only factor which will determine a teacher's emoluments, and I very greatly mistake iche temper of the teachers who, in the various district institutes, were responsible for our lengthy order paper, if anything ia now allowed to prevent the reforms which I have here" indicated." Some amendments were made to-- clauses of the constitution. A motion to delete the •clause providing that non-officia-1 members of the executive who have acted for four years continuously shall not be eligible for re-election until the expiration of 12 months was carried by 29 -to 16. Other resolutions proposing minor amendments which appeared on the order paper were also .carried. A Wellington recommendation affirming the desirableness of revising the scale of staffing with a. view to sfcrenffthprnnc stnfiFs so as to avoid unduly large classes was carried. A North Canterbury motion to the effect that every school should have at least 60 per cent of adult teachers was lost, it being stated that in the majority of cases the proportion was already 60 per cent. An Auckland recommendation that the Minister be asked to provide for a revision of the existing provision for quarterly adjustment of staffing was lost. The Institute concluded the day's sitting at 5.30. AUCKLAND. January 3. The New Zealand Educational Institute Conference to-day received the report of the Promotion Committee, which made recommendations for the grouping of distriots, a board of classification, right of appeal, methods of grading, and how vacancies should be filled. It affirmed that\ salaries should depend on the of position determined by the working average roll number, not on average attendance; that the scale of payment should be in keeping with that indicated in the table showing the co-relation of classes, except that teachers in charge of small schools should receive a higher salary than assistants in an, equivalent division ; that each division have a fixed minimum salary to be paid from appointment, and thereafter, for, say, 10 years, an annual increment until the maximum salary of that division is reached ; that provision should be made for the transfer of teachers whose schools have fallen below or have increased above the division for which salaries are

.being paid; that provision should be made that no teacher then employed shall suffer a reduction in salary as the result of the introduction of the new system. The recommendations are being discussed in committee. The promotive scheme was considered in committee. This stage of the discussion occupied the whole- day, and is still unfinished. The only material alteration made in committee was the substitution of four for the five promotive districts proposed in the report, the boundaries of such four districts -to be ooterminus with those of the university districts. Another amendment was made providing that > appeals against positions oh or omissions from promotion lists must be made through the district institutes. The proposed methods of grading and filling vacancies were" approved with a few verbal alterations. The proposals in regard to classes and divisions will be discussed to-morrow. Members of the institute were entertained at Tekorero by the lady teachers of Auckland to-night. January 5. " The Teachers' Conference was concluded on Saturday night after a lengthy sitting, which lasted, till after 11 o'clock. Consideration of the .promotion scheme was concluded in committee. A discussion of ' proposed classes and divisions resulted in a division. Classes I and II were passed unaltered. Class 111 (in regard to applicants for charge of infant classes) was struck out, it not being wise to have a class for teachers of infants. The following note was appended to the scale of salaries set out for teaching two classes, and adopted: — "The salaries set forth here are for the purposes of illustration only. They ;are taken from the present scale and do not indicate the institute's views on the question of salaries." The period during which the teachers should advance from the minimum and to the maximum salaries was reduced, from 10 to five years, the annual increments being - increased from £5 t to £10. The maximum salary in class II was fixed at £10 below the minimum for class I (instead of £5, 'as proposed by the promotion clause). The scheme, as amended, was adopted By the institute. The balance sheet was adopted. , The election of officers resulted in Mr W. Newton, of Auckland, being elected president, with 30 votes, against 14 recorded for the other candidate, Mr W. Brock (North Canterbury). Mr Jas. Aitken i (Wanganui) and Mr W. Davidson (Dunedin) were elected non-official members of the executive for the North and South Islands respectively, and Mr G. Maomorran was elected to represent the Wellington district on the same body. Mr T. Hughes (Ohristohurch) and Mr W. Foster (Wellington) were re-elected to the respective positions of treasurer and secretary. It was resolved to hold the next meeting at Dunedin. Resolutions affirming the necessity for more' adequate remuneration of teachers and calling attention to the inequitable nature 'of payment on the basis of average attendance were passed. It was also resolved to ask the Minister of Education to '-remove the chief cause of discontent among teachers by paying salaries " that are adequate ' remuneration for the import-ant work of our' profession." A sub-committee of Otago members was set up to: draw up a scale of salaries and report to the* executive by March 31, such scale to be based on the classification adopted by the institute. The remainder of the remits forwarded by district institutes were considered, .the majority being agreed to, a sntell number lost, and others (which referred _ to~ matters already dealt with) were withdrawn. Amongst the motions carried was one — ' " That the time has arrived when, owing to the establishment of a liberal free pjlace system, all primary scholarships should be abolished." It was resolved to urge the Minister to introduce the amended regulations for in- .. spection and examination as submitted to , and approved by the institute last year; also that the Minister's attention be drawn to the heavy fees charged by the depart-_ ment to those teachers who wish to sit for only one or two subjects. The following recommendations dea'ing with superannuation were carried :— " That house allowance ought to be included in the estimation of superannuation allowance ; that in the opinion of this institute allowance for back service amounting to l-120th of the i total salary rereived previous to January 1, 1906, gives a totally inadequate allowance to teachers who have spent their" best -years in the service of education, and that every effort ought to be made to obtain terms as good as those of the Railway and Police Departments; that in the opinion of this institute the Education Act should be amended co as to _nake it compulsory that all male, contributors to the super-annuation-fund retire at 65 and all female contributors at 60." The meeting closed with the passing of the usual votes of thanks.