The Timaru Herald FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 1908. POWERS OF SCHOOL COMMITTEES.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13666, 7 August 1908, Page 4

The Timaru Herald FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 1908. POWERS OF SCHOOL COMMITTEES.

Wo suggested some time ago that, the school committees in South .Canterbury might find ifl advisable to form, an Association for tho discussion of, educational matters affecting committees generally and for united action in cases where it might ba considered! that the powers and functions of committees were in danger of improper infringement. The potential value of such a central organisation must now be apparent to uuose membersi of local school bodies which are showing lan ap-. prehensive interest, in the clauses, of the Education Actl Amendment Bill affecting the. control 'of the committees, over the appointment of teachers. The chairman of the Timam South School Committee, raftd'o. a reference to the subject, in the early part of the week, and liisb night the Main School Committee discussed it at some length, ending with a, resolution of protest against the practical removal of all authority in this matter from the. hiinds of the committees. We daresay that all of these gentlemen have noticed tha invitation contained in a telegram which we published, on Wednesday morniirig announcing that the Education Com - mittee, of. thei House of Representatives will afford! facilities to members of school committees for giving evidence before it on the Bill so' far as it affects committees, and possibly some of them may be sufficiently Interested to support, the re-I solution thev are sending to the Minister bv personal statements before, 1 the pariliamentaiY committee in Wellington. It i l.v hardly reasonable to expect, however, i that thev should incur the personal in-, i | convenience and expense necessary to'em-i I phasise their protest, in this way, while , even if one or two of the large commitI tfces did elect to , be represented before f the 'Education of. the House, their -views could not carry the weight, ■that, would attach to statements made by delegates from an, organisation representing' every committee in -the district..- It is,, however, too late now to think of forming- a .South Canterbury School Committees Association for the discussion of the Bill and -the election of delegates to place its views in evidence before. the parliamentary committee, though we daresay that the, resolution' adopted by the ; Main School Committee last night reprei Sents pretty accurately the general feelring .of every similar , body in South Can- > terbury. • The , right no 'exercise some control over file selection of their staffs "Las"'' always ' been- jealously guardfod by committees, and can be no doubt that its existence lias done .a great deal ro maintain .and stimula,Uv.-local lintevest -in ' education. We are .not - prepared' to say ' that that has: always been a, good tiling, for committees occasionally, develop tyrannical. tendencies . towards the teachers , t they have,: and deny . the: chance 0f.,, pro- ' motion to ! others',\vho -apply for -positions • •Which have lain either wholly or in part at: their disposal. On the whole, however, we- agree that local- interest, : in. ~th 6 schools has been in the . right , direction, and-that it would-be a thousand' pities if that interest, were, to be destroyed. .Mr Vogeler . last night quoted the Victorian Director of Education in support of the superiority -of > the New Zealand system over, the centralised methods of the Australian State'where the school i.?' not, a local institution as it. is with • us,; .but ai Government l iaffair like the lock-up or the railway station.-- We think; however, that the members of the committee were unnecessarily pessimistic in regar<ling -the proposed! change in the method of appointing teachers as tatal to the continuance of local mteiW . inthe schools. . If. the" change is made, we shall have a long, -.way to travel bfefore the Now Zealand system becomes identical with that of Victoria where all appointments and transfers ,Tre. tmade from, the head office, and! whe,re the people of the district, ha,ve .no more voice in the selection of their teachers than the people of -Tima.ru have in the appointment ■of the railway staff or of the police force. .The' power of-appoint-ment will at. leaist< remain in the) district] with the Board elected by the committees themselves, and if the committees elect their Board properly, they should have r no reason -to complain o! its handling of the teaching staff. The ■ .-proposed system, theoretically at any rate, guarantees that, tho most, highly qualified applicant •available will be appointed to each vacancy as it occurs, so that the interests of tlie ! school*? and, the committees should bo quite safe, while the interests of tlhe teachers should be a good deal, safer than they are at present when there is no absolute certainty that, -a teacher will not be denied legitimate advancement owing lio all aorta of considerations quire irrelevant to his professional, skill. With a system which- -promises • this change-for the better, we see no reason why committees. should lose the interest they now take in the schools. The appointment, of I'teacliers is after all a' rather unusual eventrin their routine. It is not-a duty they are called upon to perform at every i meeting, and yet they find a good deal more to do than seeing to the replacement of broken -windows—a responsibility • which seems to have suddenly assumed remarkable proportions since the Bill has made its appearance.