THE EDUCATION ACT AMENDMENT BILL

Otago Witness, Issue 2840, 19 August 1908, Page 17

THE EDUCATION ACT AMENDMENT BILL

COUNTRY EDUCATION".

SUGGESTIONS BY REV. P. B. FRASER,

The Education Committee of the House agreed, on the motion of Mr Mackenzie, that representatives of various organisations should be allowed to tender evidence on the bill before them, and the Rev. P. B. Fraser (chairman of the Country School Committees' Association) proposes to send representation for consideration of the members of the committee and to membei® of Parliament interested. He ie hopeful that his suggestions will find approval with country echool committees and teachers, and some measure of success with educational authorities in. Parliament. Any suggestion or criticisms forwarded to him will be tabulated and forwarded to Mr. Mackenzie, M.P., to lay before the committee. Mr Fraser, in tho course of his representations, writes : —

I cannot express a too hearty appreciation of the magnificent efforts of the Government and the Minister of Education' to do more liberally by the education system of the Dominion. None complained 1 more loudly than I of the ecant justice that was being done to the country schools' by the increased expenditure of recent? years. And now here is a noble and 1 generous effort to do more for the country schools and the lower ranks of the profession. It ought greatly to improve the! quality of education in the country and 1 add to the contentment of teachers.

Mr Fraser, after referring to the present system of consulting school committees in the matter of appointments, writes : —

A broad system of promotion may be laid down later, but -it will be impossible to lay down a rigid system, of promotion for teachers, just as it is impossible to lay down one for their pupik. Much will depend an the men who operate the system. Still, the system need not he the worst, and the following is suggested' wherein, besides the " rights " of committees, there is recognised the distinct right of 200 men and women of the noblest occupation to know more about the method by which they are promoted, and to have Borne means of redress, should an injustice unhappily occur. THE APPOINTMENT OF TEACHERS.

1. In making appointments the board shall take into consideration the names of all applicants, whether in its own service or in that of another board, and shall give due weight to the character, classification, skill, suitability, and service of all tho candidates. Special consideration shall be given to the claims, other qualifications being equal, of those teachers who have served their respective boards in out-of-the-way places.

2. There shall be an expert advisory committee consisting of the board's inspectors and two teachers elected annually by the teachers under «ach board. (Where there are less than three inspectors only one representative shall be elected by the teachers.) After due consideration "of the names and testimonials of all the applicants, and of those who have signified their wish for transfer, the committee shall draw up a list of those considered, and shall indicate to the board its judgment of the order of the claims and merits of the applicants for the vacancies. 3. The board shall thereafter mako a selection from the list of not more than four names of teachers of nearly equal merit, and shall, before making an appointment, consult the school committee concerned in the following manner: — (1) The board shall send to the committee a list of all the applicants. (2) The board shall also send, along with their testimonials, the names of the teachers, not exceeding four as aforesaid, deemed most suitable for the appointment. (3) Where one name is sent to the committee the board shall consider any opinion expressed by the committee, and where more than one name is sent, the board shall appoint the teacher selected by the committee. (4) Nothing in Ihe foregoing shall prevent the board, in tho event of a disagreement with a committee, from advertising or reconsidering an appointment de novo as for a new vacancy.

4. Appointment. Transfer, or Exchange of Teachers within Certain Lower Grades or Positions: —

In order to give the board power to send teachers to the less degjra.ble localities, a4id to transfer them, after a reasonable time, to more desirable positions as

occasion arises, the board shall have power to make the appointment, transfer, or exchange of teachers in all schools with less than an average attendance of 26, and likewise the appointment, transfer, or exchange of all other teachers (not being a matron or head of department) whose salaries do not exceed thole of the teachers in schools with less than an average attendance of 26, in the manner, following : In the case of a vacancy or of a transfer or exchange which the board may deem desirable, the board shall inform the committee concerned of its intention to make 6uch appointment, transfer, or exchange, and shall forward the name and testi-" monials of the teacher it proposes to appoint, with intimation to the committee that if it desires to express any opinion with respect to the appointment, it shall forward its opinion or recommendation to the board so as to reach the board not later than two. clear days before the day on which the appointment is proposed to be made. If any such opinion or recommendation is received by the board within the time aforesaid, the board shall take the same into consideration before making the appointment.

5. Court of Review or Appeal Regarding Appointment or Transfer of Teachers. — Should any disagreement (not settled by conference) arise among the parties concerned in any appointment, because tihe said appointemnt or transfer is alleged to be not in accord "with the act or with the board s regulations relative thereto, or with principles of equity and good conscience, then the teacber or committee may have the matters in dispute referred to a Court of Review, which shall make a recommendation to the Minister of Education, whose decision" shall be final. APPOINTMENT OF TEACHERS TO

SMALL SCHOOLS.

In the method suggested for the appointment of teachers, a differentiation is made in. the method of appointing those in the. ' 'small schools and lower ranks (section ' 4- above). This is of the utmost importance to secure equality of treatment for th© teachers in the smaller schools. Either this must be done, or 10 per cent, must be added to the salaries of the teachers in less desirable localities. But if tho board has power to send good teachers to the outhing schools of less than 26 of an average attendance, and assure them of exchange or of definite promotion to the more desirable places, then the supply of teachers for the small schools will at once be more abundant. At present the inferior or uncertificated, and perhaps of them only two or three, will- apply for a school of the same salary as attaches to the position of a junior assistant in a city school, for which there will be from 15 to as many as 30 applicants. The sole difference is that the one appointment is in or near the city or railway,* while the other is in the back-blocks. Now, if the avenue of promotion or exchange is kept open by reserving a little more power for the boards with this class of appointments, more will be done for rural education in the outlying places than anything else for 20 years past. I earnestly beg the attention of the Minister of Education and of country member? of Parliament to this aspect of the question. It is not a trivial point. There are over 800 schools with lees than 26 of an average attendance, with nearly 13,000 children, and none better in the Dominion. The Staffing of Schools with an Average Attendance of between 36 and 51, and the Abolition of Pupil Teachers in the

Country.

It is proposed to give an assistant teacher at an average attendance of 36, » so that it will be possible for two eerti- j ficated teachers to be engaged on a j comparatively small number of children j at a cost for salaries alone of over £300. ' This appears to be unnecessarily extrava- j gant. It is just possible to slightly overdo at some points the staffing to the real detriment of the quality of the education afforded. Education is a matter of culture and brain power. Surely it would ( be fai better to pay higher salaries to > fewer teachers than to fritter the money away on mediocrities. Men have been driven out of the service and others prevented from entering it, by the small salaries paid them. T am not for less money being spent on this class of school, but for paying good salaries to brainy men of high efficiency, who will bring both culture and efficiency to the smaller schools. | Therefore, instead of introducing an assist- ( ant at 36, give a higher salary to the head , teacher, and give him a "pupil teaoher to assist him. for the teaching and training of whom he should be specially paid by the increase in his salary. There is another important aspect of this that must also be considered. This total abolition of the pupil teacher system may be all right in towns, but it is unwise and impracticable for the country schools. _ In ( the first place, it will entirely [ close the avenue to country boys t

and girls to enter the profes- ! sion. Unless they are enabled to enter the profession through 6ueh an excellent medium aa was supplied by service in' our District High Schools, or by the grade of smaller schools under consideration, the country children, as a whole will be completely barred from employment as teachers. They cannot attain to the Training College at a bound, and if not by service in country schools first, then not at all. Further, I beg practical men and members of Parliament just to ask what, after all, does the practical training at the Training Colleges amount to? I ask whether the pupil-teacher system alongside of, eubordi-" nate to, and feeding, the Training College, - at least -so far as country schools aie oon-> cerned,. is- not worthy of the most serious consideration before it is utterly abolished?

I believe that, altogether, the whole teaching " experience " of a Training College student may not exceed eight or nine weeks in hie entire course, made up of scraps of teaching at different times. Compare this with three of four years' course ofi teaching in a school under the guidance, say, of a district high school rector, binding up with a two years' course at. the Training College". '