WOMEN TEACHERS

Southland Times, Issue 19516, 16 May 1922, Page 5

WOMEN TEACHERS

ANNUAL ‘CONFERENCE. JUNIOR. HIGH SCHOOL SCHEME. (Per United Press Association.) WELLINGTON, May 15. The ar mu al conference of representatives of the tyew Zealand Women Teachers’ Association opened to-day. Many districts are represented. The presidential report said if they failed now to pay the premium demanded by a good general educational system we would surely reap a harvest of hate, corruption, confusion and downfall. The annual report stated that there were at present approximately 170 members as compared with 73 in 1917. Regret was expressed that little headway appeared to have been made towards the removal of (Usabilities regard to grading under which technical teachers still laboured. Attention was drawn to the fact that technical school teachers had no representation on the Council of Education. The report was adopted. Mr J. Caughley, Director of Education, gave an address on the subject of junior high schools He said the idea was to take children after the fourth standard and draft them to a junior high school, which would be a connecting link between the primary school and the high school proper. By this means a child entering the high school would take new subjects more gradually. As to differentiation of work between boys and girls, the work would be started earlier. About three-fifths of the time would be devoted to the usual primary school curriculum and the other. two-fifths to special subjects such as, in thp case of girls, domestic science and other similar subjects. Half the staff would be comprised of men and half of women with equal status. The women would be teaching girls in the higher standards as well as in the lower. One of these schools was to be opened in Auckland, where there was a building available, in July, and two others would bo opened in Januaiy. By that time he hoped teachers of all grades would have discussed the scheme, a copy of which would soon be in the hands of all teachers, and that a united council of all teaching associations would help to make a success of the scheme. The first schools would be experimental, but he hoped they would soon be universal. They would be under a proper echeme which would successfully cany out the work of education without the hiatus at present existing between primary and secondary schools.