The Wanganui Chronicle AND PATEA-RANGITIKEI ADVERTISER "NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 1892.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11611, 13 August 1892, Page 2

The Wanganui Chronicle AND PATEA-RANGITIKEI ADVERTISER "NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 1892.

« Our Marton contemporary, the Bangitikei ' Advocate, has something further 1 to aay on the subject of " A teacher's grievance." Beplying to our explanation of the principle upon which it appears to us the Education Board is guided in the matter of appointments, the Advocate says that , the inference it is apparently expected to draw is "that the teachers in the Wanganui Educational District are inferior in teach- ■ ing ability and scholastic attainments to • those in the great majority of the edui cational districts of tbe colony in which i they fill all vacanies from the ranks of ; their own staffs. Assuming thab to be i so, the sooner the Board make a clean i sweep of their present staff, and fill their I places with the crowds of scholastic 1 prodigies fiom other districts the better, i We harbour a belief, however, that there , is not so much difference as the Ciironicle r thinks, and tho Board " feels," between the average ability of the pedagogues of • this educational division of the country ; and those of others, and as it is possible for other Boards to find " from three to . fivo " eligible candidates for their prize positions from among their own staff, it must be equally possible for tho Wan- ' ganui Board, if it cares to do so. The kernel of the whole difficulty is, we think, ■ that, having the whole colony to choose from, the Board becomes fastidious 1 apt to push its standard of requirements in its choice in its own district, and is 1 too far up." We do not think our contemporary is ' warranted in inferring from anything that has appeared in those columns that the r teachers of this district are, or are considered to be, inferior in teaching^ ability 1 and scholastic attainments to their compatriots in the other education districts '< of the colony. The question is not as to whether the general average of our teachers is as high as it is elsewhere, but whether for particular vacancies a suffi--1 ci<snt number of satisfactory applicants ■ can be found without going beyond the district. It must oe remembered that i there may be many highly qualified teachers in a district to whom a particular ■ vacancy would afford no promotion, and who would not therefore apply for i t, while 1 of those who might be anxious to apply there might not be a number sufficient to give committees a reasonable choice. i It is no argument to say that some othfr Education Boards can find a sufficient number of eligible applicants for their prize position from the ranks of 1 their own teachers. Some of such Boards have double the number of teachers to i select from that vVanganui has, but even fo, it does not follow that in reserving thoir most coveted schools for their own teachers they are acting fairly with their constituents, the committees, or for the good of the children whose educational interests they are appointed to conserve. The Advocate concludes by expressing its opinion that the Board, having the whole

colony to choose from, •' becomes fastidious in its own district, and is apt to push its standard of requirements too far up." Is this not an admission that, if the whole colony be taken as the field of choice, a, better selection can be made than within tho limited circle of the Wanganui district ? This brings us to the cnuial point. If it be admitted that for any school in the Wanganui district a superior teacher can be obtained from some other part of the colony than is to be found in the ranks of our own teachers, must the desirability of promoting our own people ba considered of greater importance than the question of securing the best teacher for the school? We think the Advocate is wrons: in believing the Board to bo toa fastidious and in being apt to push its standard of requirements too far up. The real fact is that in the very latest instances of " prize positions " becoming vacant in this district the Board would have been satisfied to appoint teachers in its own employ ; but the committees interested claimed to have a greater number of names submitted to them than the Board was piepared to recommend from its fcwn staff. To our mind the Advocate has not touched the point of real danger in going beyond our own district in order to fill up vacancies. With every wish to promoteand protect the interest of our own deserving teachers, we cannot but think that the Board is fully justified in passing them over if it can make sure of securing superior applicants. But it is just here that the danger lias. Tho faults and tho virtues of its own teachers are equally well known to the Board, but the testimonials of strange applicants speak only of their virtues. Applicants for appointments — whether good, bad, or indifferent — can always produce capital testimonials, a:id those to whom such documents aro presented are almost invariably obliged to read between the lines in order to appraise their value. A great risk ia incurred in selecting teachers from a distance, but it is obvious that the risk must sometimes be run if the Board is to obey the spirit of the law and give the Committees a real say in the matter of appointments.