AUCKLAND TRAINING COLLEGE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 490, 24 April 1909, Page 3

AUCKLAND TRAINING COLLEGE.

A REPLY TO THE' MINISm' tfOß' "i ' EDUCATION: ; ;V'; ' At the last meeting of tho Auckland •IStiucntion Board tho chairman. (Mr. C.,X Parr) •made some .remarks in.objection),to a reoent statement of tilt Minister-for Education.,,;lri reading tho annua] report, the" chairman paused at the following.passage: ''The bogi-d is, not at present in .a' ( • jjosi ll6Tl ■ Vtol'cleniand that, all pupil teachers shall 'enter' , the Training College at the completion of as their services are., immediately required as junior assistants , .of,, teachers-,., in, solo charge of small schools,:'.... Tho,.Minister, ,on being interviewed in Wellington" tho other day (said . Mr. I'arr), stat«r that-the Auckland board should take "steps',to ",'"6)l'.'.' the Training College by insisting, .thatViill; pupil teachers should tako a- coursq-of "oniror two years at the Training College. -.' The board was also of that opinion but tho chairman thought, however,- .that--.it; was; hardly, .fair of . the 'Minister to. '.tilat the board was not doing its duty in ,tho' matter, in viow-of- the- special circumstances, ihe Minister forgot that'/.tho" Auckland board had an, extraordinary . demand; for 'teachers that it was/going ahe'aci with" jeaps and bounds, that many new schb'ols.'had' > 'bccii opened, and that the board;.had: been absolutely obliged to take on teachers at the end of their course- and- give them appointments. Tho only; alternative was to ieav-o the schools unstaffed. The Minister should have considered-these things. The Auckland board was doing an immense work for tho'Department and'tho Stato lin ,'the city, and-in tho country over an immense district, and under very adverse circumstances. 1 hm-o were over 1000 teachers, and more than 500 schools under the caro of the board.: .{ho speaker said lie very much-re-gretted that the Minister should have suggested that tho board was not doing its duty m tho filling of .the Training Collego. ■' Tho board was m doing' its best,- and rocogriiscd that tho Training Collego should be kept full, if possible,, but tlioy ajso - rccognisod that the schools should bo kept , staffed Mr. Kdgcumbe said that tho chairman's remarks should bo written ; in italics and underlined. Tho public should bo made aware of the difficulties tho, Auckland board was working under. Mr. G. J. Garland said that in Wellington tho Training College. had, the: Hawko's flay the Taranaki, tho Wanganui, and tho Nelson,, and perhaps the Marlborough • districts to draw upon.