WELLINGTON SCHOOLS

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1087, 28 March 1911, Page 9

WELLINGTON SCHOOLS

INSPECTORS' REPORT, "HASTY AND ILL-JUDGED PROMOTIONS." THE AKITHMETIC FETISH, The annual report of the Inspectors of Schools in the Wellington Education District' lias just been issued. The number of schools in operation during the year was IU3, being an increase of one lor tlio year. Two small aided schools were closed, and threo opened. The roll number of the schools was 17,81)3, and the attendance at the time of the inspectorial visit was 17,111. There are eleven Roman Catholic schools ill the district, with a roll number of 1442. The figures show an increase in attendance ot 132 compared with the previous year. Country Schools Decreasing. In referring to the school attendance, the inspectors state: "Though on the aggregate number we have more than held our own, we regret to notice that the country schools as a whole show a decided decreaso in numbers—nearly 400. This is in part due to the fact that many of our small settlers have moved to the cheaper land along the Main Trunk line; but, unfortunately, the main cause has undoubtedly been the growing tendency towards aggregation in towns. . . . We had expected an increase this year in'our District High School numbers, but this expectation has not been realised, a fact largely due to the alteration in the Wairarapa railway time-table. In the Greytown District High School alone, the new time-table entailed a loss of nearly 10 per cent in the number of secondary pupils. Of the total of IC3 schools, the inspectors state that 150 are satisfactorily accommodated. Ten schools are housed, wholly or in part, in rented halls •or church-rooms, and eight are in old and dilapidated or otherwise unsuitable buildings. It is satisfactory to know that both the Department and the board have in hand a comprehensive scheme to afford the teachers a higher standard of comfort. During the year, special accommodation has been provided for wood-work at the live- high schools now taking the rural course. Improved Efficiency. Dealing with the efficiency of the various schools, the inspectors note, that a large measure of improvement has resulted from the. suggestions made in tho detailed inspection and examination reports. Of the 163 schools, 135 are reported upon as from satisfactory to good, 18 fair, and 10 inferior. Tbj unsatisfactoryschools aro in the lower grades, and the inspectors emphasise the difficulty experienced in finding suitable teachers to meet the frequent changes that occur in tho management of the schools in these grades. In referring to the question of the classiiication and promotion of pupils by teachers, the inspectors draw attention to warnings contained in a previous report, and state that they again noticed at tho proficiency examination an appreciable number of candidates who gave indications of hasty and ill-judged promotion from Standard V. ' Searching Tests. An idea has' gone abroad that the inspectors' visits now mean merely a cursory examination of the teaching methods and an. estimate of the'general condition of the school as a whole. The inspectors assure the board that tho new order .gives a decided,advantage t,o the country school,which is visited twice a year, and the teachers* classification of the pupils put to a searching test. . 11l practice, therefore, in the lower grade schools the responsibility of promotion is still almost entirely assumed by the inspectors. Tho inspectors deal at somo length with a .suggestion, made by the Department that a shorter, period should bo spent )jy children in the preparatoryclasses, so that they might avail themselves, of secondary education .it; year earlier than at present, Tho inspectors point out the difficulties in the way of shortening tho preparatory course, but suggest that tho work of Standard VI might bo made mora in sympathy with the junior work of the secondary classes, and that six months in the school life of a child might be saved by a different treatment of the subject of arithmetic. Every other subject of the syllabus is made to "mark time" for arithmetic, and tho progress of the primary pupil through the higher standards of the school course is steadily retarded in cpnsequcncc. The benefits of an excellent course in arithmetic are, in the opinion of the inspectors, being persist-' chtly sacrificed to-examination, tests and requirements. ■ ' ■ • Inadequate. Staffs. • The report emphasises the fact that any inefficiency that .exists in Grades V and over is due more to inadequate staffing than to any other cause. It is pointed out that teachers in some schools are expected to get satisfactory results with classes of sixty and seventy pupils. The inspectors add that "the time for teaching children in battalions has gone by." Though the position with regard to uncertificated teachers is not -so acuto in this district as it appears to be in other parts of tho Dominion, it nevertheless calls for serious consideration. Of a total of 415 teachers in the board's service, 55 are uncertificated. The inspectors recommend "decided action" in regard to those "who are apparently quite content to let matters drift on year after year without making, any effort to improvo their professional status." An Important Advance. In dealing with iiie nine high schools of the district, which have an attendance of 330 pupils, spccial reference. is made to the rural course, which has lx>ett in operation for a year. Tho inspectors look upon the adoption of this course as tho most important advance made in our educational system during the last decade. The course has not, in their opinion, met with.the approval that it has a right to expect in country districts. In more than one case considerable opposition on the part of the local committees had to be overcorfie. The inspectors conclude an interesting survey of the year's work with a detailed reference to the syllabus, physical instruction, and continuation classes.