ECONOMY IN EDUCATION

Otago Witness, Issue 4085, 28 June 1932, Page 63

ECONOMY IN EDUCATION

CLOSING OF TRAINING COLLEGES

ST AF F RFAD JU STMENTS. WELLINGTON, June 21. The closing of the Wellington and ) Dunedin Training Colleges at the end 1 of this year will affeet the staffs at al) I the colleges. According to official information given to-day adjustments are to be made in the staffs at the Auckland and Christchurch Colleges, which are to cater for future training requirements, but positions at these two colleges will not be found for seven teachers from Wellington and six from Dunedin. They will be forced to seek situations elsewhere. It is pointed out that it will not be only the Wellington and Dunedin lecturers who will be affected by the change. One lecturer and one assistant lecturer are to be put off in Auckland and four lecturers are to go from Christchurch, and their places will be taken by lecturers who are to be transferred from Wellington and Dunedin. No positions are being found for either Mr E. K. Lomas, the principal at Wellington, or Mr J. A. Moore, the principal at Dunedin. In addition to the other staff rearrangements the services of the four physical instructors arc being dispensed with, one being put off at Auckland, one at Dunedin, and two at Christchurch. As the Minister of Education (Mr RMasters) explained some time ago, one man and one woman instructor only are being retained at Auckland and Christchurch, and the students will be expected to add physical instruction to their professional equipment, taking their knowledge of it with them to the schools. Although those lecturers who are being put off are not being offered the prospect of being immediately placed in other positions, it is stated that they will be able to apply for appointments to primary or secondary schools, and it is anticipated that they will be able to find positions without great difficulty.

EFFECT OF CLOSING CHRISTCHURCH, June 20. Consequent upon the decision of the Government to close the Wellington and Dunedin Training Colleges at the end of the year 23 lecturers now employed by the Education Department in its four colleges will lose their positions. The fact that there will be no first year students next year means that the roll numbers in the two remaining colleges will not be anything like normal, and apparently there is to be a corresponding reduction in the strength of the staffs. The following lecturers on the staff of the Christchurch Training Collette are affected: —Mr J. J. S. Comes, lecturer in nature study; Mr T. Vernon Griffiths, lecturer in music; Mr A. W. Tuekcr, lecturer in method; Mr G. A. Webb, physical instructor: Miss E. L. Cooper, lecturer in handwork; Miss I. Greenwood, physical instructress. The department, announcing these changes, declares that as the teachers have lo>t their positions through no fault of their own they should be appointed by transfer to any position for which they are qualified as soon as possible. and asks the boards to bear this in mind when filling vacancies in schools in the near future.

In the general readjustment of staffs following the closing of two of the colleges a number of transfers will be made. The following have been transferred to the Christchurch College under this adjustment.—Mr F. C. Brew, viceprincipal of the Wellington Training College; 2>liss M. G. Thornton, lecturer in infant methods and handwork of Wei lington College; Mr W. Jenner, lecturer in music at the Wellington College; Mr L. C. MCaskill. lecturer in nature study and agriculture at the Dunedin College.

ALTERNATIVE TO GOVERNMENT’S SCHEME

OUTLINE OF BOARD’S PROPOSALS A summary of the plan which its representatives submitted to the Minister of Education (Mr R. Masters) on Wednesday as an alternative to the closing of the training colleges at Dunedin and Wellington has been issued by the Otago Education Board. The plan, under which the four colleges would be maintained at a cost which would be less than that which the Government considers necessary for the maintenance of two colleges, is as follows : — For a college roll of up to 120 students consisting of divisions A students in the same year, graduates, and certain third-year specialists, the Otago Board and its expert advisers consider the following staff adequate: —Principal, £607; two full-time lecturers, £850; drawing lecturer (one day weekly), £9O; music lecturer (one day weekly), £9O; total salaries, £1(537. Physical instruction would be taken by a third-year specialist attached to the staff of the Normal School (these student specialists in the new type of drill are more valuable than the older type of instructor). The board's scheme applied to the four colleges shows a total cost of £7848. The department’s estimate for two colleges in 1933 is £10,900, and the board’s scheme shows a saving over the department’s scheme of £3052.

The saving under the board’s scheme set out in the same way as in the Minister’s letter is as follows: —

Lodging allowance additional will require to be paid out to Dunedin and Wellington students next year who this year are living at home. The estimated number is 80 at £3O, making a total of £2400. (This amount will require to be disbursed even if it is regarded as a loan.) If travelling expenses for these students and for others who are required to attend at more distant centres is allowed, a further £(500, making a total of £3OOO. will have to be provided The board is of opinion that all colleges should be temporarily closed during 1934. With the present 700 unemployed teachers, 300 made available through raising of school age and 800 leaving colleges during 1932 and 1933, there should (taking Otago figures as a guide) be sufficient teachers until December, 1937. Colleges will reopen in 1935. when the number of first-year students in each will approximate the number of second year in 1933, and re- [ quire only the same modified staff I already recommended. If it is agreed ' that all colleges are to be closed in 193-1, i this practically kills the proposal to | carry on two only in 1933 under an exI pensive reorganisation scheme. The transfer expenses of lecturers for the purpose of one year’s service will be money wasted. Example of this: Mr Rush, physical instructor, was transferred from Auckland to Dunedin for this year only at a cost of £9O, and he is now to be dismissed.

z\s to 1930, when first and second-year students will total some 200 in each college, this board is satisfied that an adequate staff can be provided for the four colleges at an additional cost not greater than the lodging allowance of the increased number of students who, under a two-college system, would be compelled to live away from home. However, 193 G is too far off to consider. The point at issue is the saving which can be made in 193.3, 1934, and 1935, and this has been already indicated. The summary showing the additional saving in each year of the board's scheme as compared with the department’s for the years 1933 and 1935 is: — Salaries and incidentals .. .. £3,000 Lodging allowance 2,400 Travelling expenses 600 A total of £6,000 The suggested use for other purposes of the college buildings in Dunedin and Wellington is extraneous to the main issue. So far as Dunedin is concerned, the college buildings cannot be used for Government offices, as they are too far removed from the business centre. The university does not require additional class rooms, while their use as a secondary school is out of the question as there is no playing area. As for the College Hostel site, this can be sold whether or not the college is continued here, as it is unlikely now that a hostel will ever be built. Even allowing some rentable value for the college buildings, it will be a mere bagatelle compared with the actual savings possible under the board’s proposals. Third-year specialist teachers should be cut out next year. This is an innovation of recent years, and must be regarded as a luxury at the present time. The saving in bursaries for 50 specialists (the number mentioned in the Minister’s statement) at, say, £50 —as most will require lodging allowance —will be £2500.

1 Auckland. We 11 ington. Ch'eh. Dunedi £ £ £ £ Saving of salaries of staff not required 3,651 3,186 3,124 2,291 Saving bv discontinuance of one Assoeiated Normal School in each centre 712 712 712 712 Saving of salaries of all phvsical instructors 534 53 1 534 481 Total saving in salaries 4,897 4,432 4,370 3,487 Saving of incidental expenses 150 172 150 94 Total saving 5,017 4.604 4,520 3 58 1 Saving under board's scheme £17,752 Saving under department’s scheme £14,753 Showing in favour of board’s scheme .. £2,999