THE EDUCATION BILL.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 11126, 15 November 1907, Page 5

THE EDUCATION BILL.

PLEA FOR THE' TEACHERS, (From ojit Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, this day. In moving -the second reading of the Education Act Amendment Bill, the Minister of Education (Hon. G. Fowlds) explained that it was partly to put the matter of certain scholarships on a betterfoot ing; m; particular the payment of certain scholarships by Victoria College had become a drag on its finances, and the Bill, would remedy this matter. Ho explained the various clauses of the Bill seriatim. • In regard to section 21 he explained that uncertificated teachers suffered a ■deduction of. lo per cent, from their salaries. Under the scale it .was > proposed to deduct only 5 per cent from the salaries of those holding licenses to teach, such being midway between certificated and uncertificated: teachers. "■ •' Mr Malcolm said he was glad to see attempts to improve our system, but it was the administration of the; system, rather than the system itself, which counted. We ; should have good teachers, and that was improbable, if the-remuner-ation was to be no better than now. Mr Poland compared the minimum salary (for "a teacher with those m other Departments of the State, and protested against the scarcity of the school teacher. Li regard to salary he showed how all over the colony tliere was an increasing difficulty m securing certificated teachers. ,It made one sick to think of the salaries paid after healing the ' boasts about the huge amount of money we spent on education. ■-. Mr F. MacKenzie reiterated a number of coinplaints against the Education Department. He affirmed! that cquntry chil r dren did not receive anything Jike the advantages that town children did, though .he did not ; consider , the town children received anything '"over what they should, y More attention should be paid to instruction m useful sciences, such as agriculture, for at present the successful scholar looked to the Cirvil Service as providing the plums of employment, which tended to too much attention ■ being devoted to town for a livelihood, and too little to tlie country by our best scholars. Among other matters he referred to the evil of dual control m the staffing, of our district high schools . Audi the uncertainty of salaries' paid to. teachers. In no other Department of the State would this be tolerated. (Hear, hear.) Schools should lie classified, and the teachers paid enough to keep them there, and keep them interested m the work. , : Mr Mander' said a good bush cook coutldi get far more than a country school teacher, so could a bullock driver. Mr Poland-,: A self-respecting : Chinaman would not work for a teacher's wages. . • • Mr Laurenson said that to start a debate on education during the last week of -one of the longest sessions on record ' wag a piece; of presumption. ; He had been listening to the coinplaints made? but he reminded! members of what had been done for education iii recent years. He had been m the House eight years, and had seen the Education vote grow from £400,000 to £700,000. He admitted that teachers were underpaid. Mr Baume felt suire that the matter of better provision for teachers and other matters . mentioned* .by Mt MacKenzie would be remedied by the Minister. Mr Barber said that the present year had been Vuniaue by reason of the decreased' attendance due to epidemics. Next year many schools would be considerably understaffed by amplication of the present system of staffing oh the at.tendance returns of the year previous. Mr Hannri 'urged tjio^ Government to allow school teachers to come within the scope of ' the public service superannuation scheme. , There should be an amalgamation ■ of the various superannuation schemes of civil service. The Minister of Education, m reply, .said he proposed to go into the various schemes riiooted for a new scale of teachers' calaries, and introduce legislation dealing with the matter next session. As to cases to which attention had been drawn, no reduction iri salary would take place unless there had been a falling attendance for two years. The Department welcomed criticism of the School Journal. He agreed that it would be improved bf illustrations, but tliat reform had been held over airitil the return of the Inspector-General, y Teachers from all parts of the Dominion, he added, who had used the Journal testified to its usefulness. The second reading was agreed to on the voices. Tlie Bill was put through Committee without any discussion whatever, a new clause relating to Taranaki scholarships being added. • - .