PRIMARY SCHOOL SYSTEM

Timaru Herald, Volume XIC, Issue 13457, 2 December 1907, Page 2

PRIMARY SCHOOL SYSTEM

TEACHERS SEEK AMENDMENTS. COMMENTS BY SOOTH CANTERBURY INSTITUTE; A meeting of the South Canterbury District Education Institute was. held in the Glasgow Tea Rooms on Saturday morning, to consider the motion paper for the annual meeting of the New Zealand Institute at Auckland in January. There were about a dozen present, ami Mr Thomas presided. ■'' - A litrle local business was first,, attended to. A nitfiiK) l'ronr the Education Board contained a resolution agming with, .the teachers' disapproval of the ijcheme. lor paying teachdr*' salaries by Post ••'Office' orders. ' ;

Correspondence was received regarding a proposal that teachers should be aLowed to come mrlcr liie Civil Service Superannuation Act. Mr:. Valentine ox-plained; that though the correspondence- -»:o Ivind ■stated that this would not be . done;- vet. "the Minium- of Education did add a

clause to the liill to effect- that' purpose, and this passed the. Lower House, la the Upper House, however, the Hon.. Dr. Fmdlay witlulijew it, on the ground that t)i?. machinii-y . provided was inadequate;; find the clause must be redrafted., ' lhe provisions'- of the clause. wer& much bett.fr. •loi teachers than.- their own . Sui>H-anima-. tion Act, <is the allowance included i ixtjeths for pa;t service*, and was calcuvlated 011 tue- .average of the last three years' pay instead of the average, of ail past years. .; • , '

'ilr Valentine, as treasurer, reported I'tliat. hs had. that,/day jseiit. t|i& districtcontribution of £3O (£b each for 129 meih-bei-s) to the Institute. . , . ' »A* circular was received from, the Department explaining the operation of the. "regulation regarding.- payment •of • salariss in cases where the average is by. epidemics. It was, remarked that the legulation was satisfactory as 'regards a temppraiy. tail in the average, but it did •not me. i- the car:e of a permanent fall. The Minister said the. teachers- ••'would, have time; to obtain transfers: '.l hat would be all right if there were schoolsopen, or if ihe _ ]ioards had lull power to make ti'iyiiitrs.,' The former might, not bo ■■the. c4i?e; the latter* certainly ? \vas not. - The Institute's order paper war>. theii considered. This contains 5/ motion." vent in by the District Institutes, referring to the constitution (4), administration ot the Kducation Act (7K\ status and pfiy of teachers (19), scholarships (4),, the. syllabus (4!,- general (19). Of the total North Canterbury and Wangainii each sent 10, Wellington 9, Otago 7, Auckland 6, South Canterbury and Taranaki each 4,, Hawkts' Bay 3, Southland 2, Grey and '; West-land' J • each. .The four motions relating to the Constitution deal with domestic matters 1 .

SVven motions regarding' the- administration of the Act all refer, to the. staffing, of .schools. The first, demanding u reviv ion of staffs so ;.r; to avoid unwieldy classes was strongly supported; 50, it was said, should be the maximum size of a;vclas?.: Another, remit that'-pupil i teach«ig should not be employed in schools unrier '25; was also- supported: A million for a quarterly adjustment of staffs was opposed with a remark "We'd never- knmv •where \we are." Other proposals in thissection were left- to the discretion of the delegates. . .Some of the series-- of motions regarding status and payment of teachers elicited remark. Several of them (including two from South _ Canterbury) condemned the present system of. -payment) according to average attendance and tiieise were ap- - proved ; alternatives proposed were : leftto the- delegates. 'Oi-Lers dealt ,w..:fi .iicquestion of promotion, and th'e'se -were itlso passed over, as a Promotion Committee has to give a report at the annual meeting. Other motions were approved : (1) That in way back schools the head teacher should receive High -School capitation if he givers secondary instruction to pupils holding certificates of proficiency. (2) That teachers should not have to pay exchange on cheques or postage or official correspondence. 11/ was . stated that the South Canterbury Board had arranged to pay postage on delivery, without fine, and a teacher present said he had not- been made'aware of this. (3) That boards should have full control of the syntem of conveying children, to schools. (The Department refuses to pay for the use of bicycles; the Boards would probably agree to pay. (4) That it b: compulsory for children to make full attendances—(instead of eight; out of ten per ■week)—with the usual exemptions'. It was stated that come- parents .'.'.regularly keep their children from school one day per week; and that some have ..paid the 2s 6d. fine for a full week's absence and made money by it in the potato-picking season

Among the questions left- open were those of extra payment to teachers who have to do extra work in the temporary absence -rf assistant or head teachers, and ;he propriety of making regulations providing for terms of leave on full pay iov teachers after a number of years' service. In South Africa, it was stated teachers are given four months leave after five vears service.

Under the head : of' scholarships ; a motion for thsir abolition, and the rise, of the fund, to- pay 'boarding expensese of, tree pupils living away irom home was supported;-fit, 5 . K'-t weio left open. Of the four motions relating to the syllabus tliiv-e weie. supovted and one op r posed. The meeting"; approved of a. demand for an improvement in the syllabus of geography:—"pupils can go through the school now and know nothing worth mentioning ol ' commercial geography said one teacher. .'" At present girls who attend cookery classes need' not- take nesillevork; a motion to correct this, by omitting geometry instead of needlework, was strongly supported. So' also was a. motion, that all school promotions be made in-January. Ihe section of "general' motions included two from this district, that- teachers of remote country schools should be enabled to- spend a. few months an a. Training College ;• and that new inspectors should b» chosen from the ranks of experienced head teachers. These the delegates -will of course support-.' Related to the la I U'i" are motions, to b? supported, ■that the inspectors'.&hould be officers of the-' Department, not of the Boards. A motion that- the Department should fix the amount' of holidays, leaving Boards ...and Committee to fix" dates is to be supported. The Board?, it was stated, had now ihe power to fix the holiday?', but they did not- exercise it, except in Wellington: , and -jckago. A motion from Auckland, . that ail teachers' houses should be provided with wash-houses and bathrooms -evoked a. story of an Auckland teacher who married and went lo a school where the only residence was the school pofc-h.' Mr Valentine said the. 1 list, i lute ■ two years ago • passed, a- better mot,ion ; lhat. the t Department. should adopt, "a. set of plans for schols and residences. North Canterbury s '--sent 'a- motion that residences should have at least, equal conveniences to those* in home.s." ''They are not nearly so good >n most cases," it was asserted. ; / lb was decided to oppose amotion that retirement of male teachers at 65 and of females at 60 should b:- made compulsory. A motion from Auckland recom-i mending Ihab t.ho "School 'Journal "' should.' ba improved by the inclusion qf' definite courses of lessons, was strongly iopposed, and several members spoke highly of the " Journal " as an -.additional ..reader. Among matters, left open were a. proposal that an advisory council should be set up to advrise the. .Minister;- —" it would ba- an improvement on <t one-man show." A e of -thanks to the president closed the. meeting.-