EDUCATION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 740, 6 October 1870, Page 3

EDUCATION.

♦ The following letter, from the Secretary of the Board of Education to the Provincial Secretary is dated Sept 16, and was laid on the table of the Provincial Council on the day the se sion was opened : — Sir, — In accordance with the request contained in your letter of the 9th ultimo, I have the honour to forward by direction of the Board, an estimate of the probable expenditure in this department for the year ending September 30th, 1871. . The amount asked for is considerably in excess of tbe sum spent during the current year for educational purposes. This is mainly owing to the large increase in the estimate for the maintenance of ordinary schools, ■which is due partly to tbe establishment of additional or new schools, but principally to the necessity existing for increasing the remuneration of the teachers. The amount whicb the present Ordinance authorises the Board to grant in aid, is £75 per annum ; which the Board considers experience has shown to be quite insufficient. It is of opinion, that if the remuneration to be derived from teaching a school be not somewhat on a par with what an educated man of good charactt r could obtain in another situation or profession, properly qualified persons will not offer themselves as teachers ; and considering how much the future prosperity and well-being of the people will depend on the knowledge imparted to them, and the habits of order in which they may be trained in their youth, the Board thinks that no reasonable expenditure should be grudged to secure tj all the benefit of a sound education. To give this education, good teachers are necessary, and they cannot be obtained unless they are better paid tban the teachers of this province have hitherto been. Some of the best masters have left this province, and are now receiving a much higher remuneration for their services in another part of the ■colony. The Board also regrets being obliged to state that some of tbe schools under its supervision have not the class of masters it would like to see in the schools of the province; nevertheless the teachers are as good as can be obtained for the very inadequate salaries they receive. With reference to tbe increase in masters' salaries, proposed by tbe Board, I enclose a draft copy of a scale showing the amount of Government assistance which the Board thinks desirable should be given to Local Committees, in proportion to the average number of scholars attending their respective schools. In explanation of the grounds on which the proposed grants have been based, the scale contains a statement of the teaching power considered necessary for the efficient management and education of any given number of children, of the salaries which should be paid to tbe person or persons forming such teaching power, and of the amounts likely to be received from the scholars during each year, from school fees, and which would assist in forming the gross amount of revenue available for the maintenance of the respective schools. A table is also enclosed showing the amounts which it is estimated the several schools in the province would receive during the ensuing year, Bhould tbe aid granted be in accordance with the scale. Provision is made therein for schools not yet in operation but likely soon to be so, and an addition has been made to the ordinary estimated payments to sc'iools established previously to the Ordinance of 1864, and to special grant schools to meet the contingency of such schools being brought under the eaid Ordinance during tbe ensuing year. Should the proposed increase in the expenditure be sanctioned by the Provincial Coun■cii, the 24th clause of the " Education Ordinance, 1864," would require alteration. The Board in recommending an increase in the grants, payable to schools, refers only to such schools as are now under or as shall be brought under the operation of the " Education Ordinance, 1864." With reference to the salary of the secretary, the Board would recommend that it should be at the rate of £250 per annum. With reference to the item "Establishment of New Schools," of the sums voted for thiß purpose for the current year— viz , £2500 — only £1084 14s 5d haa at present been expended. The reason for this is the delay which bas taken place from various causes in the establishment of various schools which the Board calculated would come into operation during the present year. The sumi voted for building such schools have therefore not been required as yet; but as the Board has pledged itself to assist in the erection of the buildings, it is necessary to add tbe amount required for this purpose to the sum which the Board would have applied for if these schools had been established within the time originally contemplated* With reference to the sums which the Board estimate will be paid into the Treasury by the residents in the new educational dis- ! tricts, the inhabitants have experienced the greatest difficulty in subscribing the amount which the 23rd clause of the " Education Ordinance, 1864" makes necessary as a condition of the receipt of any Government assistance, viz., one fourth of the estimated cost of tbe buildings, and the sum of £20 for the purchase of books and apparatus. The Board would therefore suggest that the above-mentioned clause should be altered so aa to make tbe receipt of Government Aid possible on the residents subscribing a sum equal to one-Bixth of tbe cost of

the buildings, in addition to the £20 for the purchase of books, &c.