EDUCATION.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1468, 17 June 1912, Page 4

EDUCATION.

SCHOLARSHIPS.AND CnAMMING,

TRAINING 01 TLVCHIRS

j;?<; (Bj^TrtcErapli,—Press Assoctatioa.) £* ;t-'.'- '-T, ; •■■' Duncdln, Juno.....Giving evidence before the Education ■-■■¥,■« Commission yesterday Mr. Edwiord Phi--'' , . , .''.' dor,, hcad-teac|i«r at tho Normal siiid ho was present as a representative;.?' ,, ;' J ,of,ono of tho threo committees appointed ■ '. . '0 .by tho Otago,Educational Institute. The.t .6.vliabus,wns very good, the only, fault ~';■■. A .Ireiiig-.-thal. tliero was rafter too mucli'V..? '', n -!, 1 ;. V.! lh .'•ewrdtoßoßulation'S, (iciut with tha examination of pupils hySSfZ ■teachers; tho qommittco recommended that irk.**-' Uie number of periodical examinations heaa-tttichcrs be reduced to a of two, inbwad.of three. Thwe was a«5 ; vast diiiercnce lietweon the litarl.tciicliora. ,,:,,, v csaminatnon nud that of the inspector. i!i l? S& - d *° ?.°S ul « t '« :l » 12. whicii dealt 'V' with the inspection report, tUe commit-' ; --'*' tee reoommended that tho report siiou!d : tr': he aiviued jnto two parts, one recardins'^Si , ' ficliool eomniitteos' work and one regard- &■-' ing this teachers' special work. As re-" : 'vfe ; - Bards Eegulation 13, wferring to pvofi-.SS ciency cxaminaticiis and institutes, the .-$# coinmitUso vecommended that geography ■■&- bs removed from B Class (which iirnctio- ;s'-S ally made it; a written subject) to C Class, ...'"■;' so that it would bo in tha list of oral ~iS subjects, A miscellaneous reader v.-rs jire. ■■?'■% fcrablo to a continuous reader which re- ' '?■■?: I)rer.entcd cae man's stylo and matter. It"&■'':■•'. was the opinion of the conmiitleo that the : . j' poetry in tho sot reading books was not , '.: V. of a high standard. They looked upon the -W-i' poetry as a very important pnrt of Eng-,"-;■:?: i li«h work. Tho opinion tho teisclH'iiW.iyV; was that tho t-lifdit mechanical work tho lower fitandank was net heavy e?iDugh ; There was not enough concentro. .. tion of inind on the abstract operation) lof counting. Another recommendation I was that tho necessary apparatus for weighing aiid measuring should be sup-. plied to schools iargcly fer the work of *■ Standard IV. They thought the work of. ;' Standard 3.V wo« ratbor heavy compared'■ Jto Standard 111, which was merelv an cx-i I tension of tho work of Standard 11. Another recommendation was that in Stsiwl. ~j, , ard V practice should always be worked : V" in decimals. In. Standard VI they wcoin- ■"."■ mended that the Tr.etrie svstem be trans- 'x>. '•;. fetred to Standard VII until it was used""'w in everyday life. They recommended thntji , '?- history should remain a compulsory sub- , '.":,; , ;.'. ject. Tho committee recommended that "■<■: ■.' ■ junior national education Iroard scholar- , ;* , ' .x ships should bo abolished and Uie mane? : .fe!« paved spent for the benefit of those pupils w , ' ,, -.* , who could not attend a. district high :, ,■>?' fchool or secondary school. The best of --.ifr these should He selected by inspector? on proficiency examinations. The pweut .;H system of scholarship examination iod to '*?■?. cramming; acrt over-work. Girls ijioiild ,^-, ? , ; :iot be aiiowftd to go in for schtilarfhii^.^S , }..?;: and they should be done away with. !a.;.■':■ ;W the country, inspectors and teachers could\'- , .'.C pick out the ahildrea test fitted tn bo. on with secondary work. Witness txprcss* ."_;■'' ed th« opinion that univcisitr ceur.»es '--J; were largely cramming , from end to end. He thrni'sht the salaries of teachers in . ': district hirii schools were insufficient, and they slionid be paid the same as teachers ia secondary mikxjls.

Ml--.-! Flora Allan, principal of the Otage ~ v GirW Ki?h School, read a written ft.itr?- ,'\. merit to this effect: In a training eoliefie ■■~; msiif senior girls labour under great ciis- ;;;,:' : f : advantages, for after ependin; five rears in fciiool, and passing both trioulctioa and junior ciyil service oxara- v.Jv-J in^tions, , . they ceunot Rflin admittance.-to *;-.!.",';; a training college nor receive unnoint-iv?-"'; merit as pupil teachers or probationer?. This year ten-pupils of the school were gT;; chosen, but in former years many ljcen obliged to abandon the idea of en-../, , -y tenng the teaching profession. At pfe- , Feat tlwre is considerable ovcrlanping , )?;-; tho technical school nnd high school.-^lt.-i■■}."}: I would be more 'satisfactory if the/lughij-WJ school taught only secondary school , ; stib--?.;;) : jecta and the tochniccl school ' 'taohnioffll ones. Girls who came to; : : now seemed to be much weaker/on: the sjp memory side and did not seem, to-reason?;*;:, o\:t a subject so clearly as' in : formor:-:.-; ,- Mr'. William SPElrn, rector of tiuJ : Di?-ix; : trict High School, Balelutha, submitted^ , "; that setbndn.vy assistants should be ter paid. Ho considered the salary.fiiould,;_;.; bo i! 300 a year. ■ JMore assistants ' wpte .;»■;* necessary and the head-teachers.}shouldt'ftv have a 'freer litmd in tho. distribution of ■'.■-" : his time. Supervision in tho way.of-visits.;•">& from Departmental inspectors should not;';. *.) bo necessary. A rural course.- had been.^r< 1 taken up this year nnd the pupils ?eem. I/; ■; ed to be enthusiastic over the work. Those, who wished to specialise in. agriculture . ,■-. phould have an opportunity of experience ,~ :„: on experimental lamis or schools special-.;! ■■'■*. ly equipped for the purpose. A certain'-'.ijj number of junior univ-orsity scholarshii«e' ; 'S v J or senior national scholtiTships ehculd i; : ; s * bo allotted for proficiency in the nir-al ■■j: : '. course. Every eity school should be fur- '■;■" g uished with a plot of ground so; that J} pupils could see plants growing under uo.» ~ tural conditions. . - . ■ " " J[r. W. S. Fitzg«rqld, ex-Inspector,'vitH' "■'« 18 years' experience in that capacity, enirt :;.-fl he ■ was . much ' interested in ■ the traininc. ■■■'." of teachers. In his daysthe smaller num- rf ;-.. ber of subjects gave time for practical ,;.-. work, and- that work certainly told most■■?;'.-', effectively, not only on tho student, is on the schools to wliioh they were -after-" ;f;,. wards appointed. How th»-training cc>)-ffi;'iS-loge was able- now with tho number of/.sij subjects it had to tncfclo to give. practical work necessary to eecuro thfl;; I .*:.;'-' efficiency of young teachers ho oould. not-.■;'■'£,; tell.' ' ' .. : ' ■' ■■ ' >'■>?'.';.■ Mt. Thos. Scett, chairman tsf the Board.iS; of Slniiagers of tho Technical School, onposed one control of education in the provinee. Ho did not think Uiey could pre- ---c;| vent overlappiiig. Leading t«chnical-j>«so schools sl)0!il(l have provision- for ing teachers for technical subjects. Hβ;';.; 1 ' would not make attendance at technical;! T schools oompnlsory. Tho earnestness of S-i," tho pupils was a groat faotor in the sui?.. ; ;C|:v coss, <ind the influence of pupils who wr-ve ; ;.%> there .against their will would tend upset ..the cluss. Ho would mnko those who , had free places boo their terns mit.:?Ksf