COUNTRY SCHOOL COMMITTEES' ASSOCIATION

Otago Witness, Issue 2934, 8 June 1910, Page 18

COUNTRY SCHOOL COMMITTEES' ASSOCIATION

ANNUAL MEETING. The annual meeting- of the Country School Committees' Association was held in the Education Office on the Ist instant. The Rev. P. B. Fraser (president) presided, and there wero about 25 members present. ~ The election of office-bearers resulted in the re-election of the Rev. P. B. Eraser as president and Mr Nicolson as vice-presi-dent. The committee was elected as follows:—Hon. T. Mackenzie, Messrs M. Colson, J. Mitchell, Finlay, Robertson, Norrie Christie, T. Johnston, Vv. D. Mason, Williamson, D. Pryde-, J. M'Cartney, T..'Ramsay, MTntosh, F. Knight, D. T. Fleming M'Kinnon, and C. Campbell. The Hon, T. Mackenzie, who put in an appearance at the meeting during its progress, addressed a few words to those assembled. He stated that he had called in" because of his long connection with the Country School Committees' Association, and to renew acquaintance with country committeemen. He knew that much -good occurred to education from a gathering of those associated with country schools. Being Minister of another department it was not within his province to deal with the work of the Minister of Education. That precluded him from taking part in any discussion, but he could assure them that he continued to take a keen interest in country schools and in education generally.—(Applause.) , The address of the president was verv lengthy, and notwithstanding the fact that it was written and was read at a very fast rate, it occupied more than an hour in deJE27' ; £° address throughout, was a sustained attack upon the methods being adopted by the Education Department, particularly so far as rural education was concerned Exhaustive statistic proof was adduced to show, first, the increased expenditure of the department upon a lesser number of pupils, and. secondly, to show the deplorable failure of the proficiency examinations in comparison with the former system of inspectorial testing. The whole system of grading by teachers was condemned, and the bad ultimate results of ihe proficiency test were attributed to it. Figures were taken from various educational centres of the Dominion to support the conclusions drawn and to drive home the arguments adduced for reform. The tendency of the der.-arfcrrent to aggrandise and centralise its ptwer and functions t<> the detriment, and slighting of the Educational Boards, was condemned, and scorn of varying degree was heaped upon the supposition that the head of officialdom should possess a monopoly of educational wisdom. In regard to' the actual teaching given in the rural school statistics were again quoted to show the increasing number of uncertificated teachers and the preponderance of women over men—the majority of the former being responsible for the education of the rural dis tricts. In the concluding sections of the address attention was more particularly given to some aspects of training college work, and suggestions' made whereby a more efficient product could be rendered available. The speaker also had something to say relative to the advantages of the pupil teacher system as against the probationer scheme introduced of late. The latter, he said, perpetuaTCd and increased the evils of the former, without its aidvantages. Reference was • also made to Germany and America to support the suggestion that sole teachers should be males rather than females. A practical remedy for some of the evils outlined was suggested by the grouping of a number, of the smaller schools and the appointment of an organising and supervising inspector, who woud be able to make monthly visits. The speaker then paid an eloquent tribute to the work of teachers and inspectors in this province, which, taken as a whole, was beyond all praise. A competent, cultured, and faithful teacher in a country district was a boon beyond all price. Money could not reward them, and for such teachers no price was too great to pay. As for the incompetent teachers, they were dear at any price. There were no men to whom the province owed so much as the school inspectors, and a special tribute was paid to "Inspector Goyen, in view of his early retirement. He then moved that the following motions, passed last year, be reaffirmed:—" That this meeting is strongly of opinion that the new system of examination and inspection of country schools whereby the examination and promotion of the pupils is practically, handed over to the teacher daring a series of years,_ 19 inimical to the best interests of education, and this meeting protests against it, and requests the executive of the association to use all means to have an alteration made. (2) That this meeting also protests against the examination, of country children at centres for proficiency certificates, and desires that thev be examined in their own schools, as formerly, by an inspector (o) That this meeting & of opinion that justice will not be done to the rural schools of the Dominion until a distinct cleavage is made in. the classification of country and city schools, and suitable regulations tor the instruction, examination, and promotion of pupils inaugurated.'' Mr W. Nicolson. (Hampden) seconded the motions contained in the address. Ihe address, he considered, was a very able one —the most able he had heard. He protested strongly against the ridiculous system of taking pupils from one school to another place, over some distance, to be examined. It was exceedingly detrimental to the interests of the pupils. Mr Mitchell endorsed the remarks ot Mr Nicolson and Mr Fraser. In regard to the centralisation for examination purposes no committeeman approved of it. But it was in their power to prevent it, for it was coniDetent for the teachers to present the children for examination at the time of the inspector's visit. Committeemen should particularly note this, and parents had it in their power to insist that this should be done.

Mr Campbell said the centralising system was vicious at the bottom. He asked whether it was possible for them to do anything in the direction of having the 9d capitation returned to committees. The Chairman said that point would not be lost sight of by the meeting. Mr John Edie emphasised the desirability of the cleavage between rural and city lines. There was something: radically wronar in ttv> r>re°»nt system— was too much teschin" r l '»-<A ; ~ and net en-oiif'") in <-K« iw»' <•" ""••*

The motions, as read, were then unanimously carried. On the question of payments for carriage of children to school a motion was carried on the initiation, of Mr A. M'Kinnon — " That the matter should be left at the discretion of the boards to make arrangements suitable for the different localities. THE CAPITATION GRANT. Mr "John Edie (Lawrence) said that the inference had been thrown out at a meeting of his committee that the Education Board was wasting the money it received from the Government, and that, with a little more care, the 9d capitation could be paid to country school committees. Mr Campbell insisted that the department was wasting money somewhere. There was some £BOOO or £9OOO to be distributed, and if this money was not wasted they would be receiving the 9d capitation. As it was, the school committees in the country had to go round with hat in hand for money. They did not have sufficient to buy a door mat. They were paying taxes, but the money did not find ite way back to> them. > , .. _,, The Chairman explained that the ideation Board received lis 3d per pupil for administration purposes. Out of that there had to be paid all expenses of officers, inspectors, etc., and the annual allowance that wns made to all the school committees. This absorbed thousands of pounds. The 9d capitation referred to by members was an extra thing. Some years ago, when, committees were crvinsr out for more money, the late Mr Feddon stated that instead of incrossing the lis 3d he would give this 9<rl -direct to the committers. It was earmarked, and the board had only acted in the capacity of transmitter of it. That 9d had now been taken away from them. Nevertheless, the board still kept up the grants to the various committees that it had been giving for years past. It was not to be supposed that the committees had only had the 9d. That was merely an addition. He considered that the beard could claim that it had endeavoured to make an equitable distribution of moneys received by it from the Government. He understood that, as the result of representations made on the subject, the Minister would return the 9rl capitation that had been tnken away from them. Mr Edie moved—" That, in the event of the 9d capitation being returned, the Government should pay it to the Education Boards, and that they administer it." Mr Campbell seconded, and the motion was carried The meeting closed with the passing of a very hearty vota of thanks' to Mr Eraser for his address. Mr Mitchell also moved' that it be an instruction to the committee to have the address printed and circulated throu'-rhout the Dominion. Mr Nicolsoni seconded the motion and it resolved accordingly.