SCHOOL TEACHERS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIC, Issue 13336, 12 July 1907, Page 7

SCHOOL TEACHERS.

STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER. (Special.—By Telegraph.) WELLINGTON. July 10. On the question of improving the position of primary school teachers whene\er promotion may be obtained by reason of service- and efficiency, the Minister of Education informed Mr T. Mackenzie to-dav tliat there are many mat ters in which Education Boards without the intervention of the Legislature might act together for the benefit of the teaching staff. It is open even to any one Board to set the example by arranging that teachers best qualified by service and efficiency shall obtain appointments in its district without i-egard to the distict from which they come. On the other hand it is obvious that the G>overment can take no steps in this direction without restricting the powers of the Boards and so incurring the charge of centralism. If the Boards find themssleves unequal to initiating the needed reforms on their own procedure, the Government will be very liappv to help them. Mr Fowlds is giving a. great deal of attention to the question of increasing the stability of teachers' salaries, and was glad of this opportunity of pointing out that there is some misunderstanding on the subject. The fact is that although schools are graded according- to the average attendance, the positions and salaries of teachers are through changes made of late only remotely affected by the fluctuations in attendance.. In ascertaining the yearly average attendance cn which schools are graded, liberal provision is made for excluding all school days on which the .. attendance was below a fair mean percentage. The staff of a school cannot be reduced unless there has been a considerable fall in the average attendnce. Any school must show a considerable fall for two consecutive years before the salary of any of its teachers can be reduced. Subject to . the safeguards thus described, some of the larger schools that happen to be on the borderline between the two grades are liable to sjuffer greatly by a reduction m attendance, but in the majority of schools neither staffs nor salaries are in any danger, of reduction. _____