NATIONAL EDUCATION

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1488, 10 July 1912, Page 2

NATIONAL EDUCATION

THE ROYAL COMMISSION. CLAIMS OF WOMEN TEACHERS. ' RURAL WORK AND PAY. The Wellington sittings of the Royal Commission appointed by tho Mackenzie Government to inquire into tho progress and conditions of national education were continued yesterday, Mr. M. Cohen (chairman of the Commission) presiding. Tho Cry of the Women. Giving cvidenco on behalf of_ the Women Teachers' Association of Wellington, Miss Holyer (headmistress of the Mount C'ook Girls' School) said that the course might include laundry work and dressmaking. Women inspectors should be appointed to review the work of infant schools and the special work of girls. The women of the district .had affirmed t 'in principle that older girls should be taught by women, and older boys by men. With l'egard to t.lio status of women in the profession, the witness said that there was less dissatisfaction among the women teachers in tho Wellington district than elsewhere, owing to the fact that the infartt mistress in tho large schools takes tho third position oil t'lie stall', and that there werO several good appointments on the stall' of tho Mount Cook Girls' School anil tho Mount Cook Infants' Schooleach separate institutions. In the large city schools two upper positions, equal in salary to the positions of first anil second assistant-masters should be allotted to Women.|

Girls' Schools: A Failure? Mr. Pirani: Have you ever heard of a girls' school being a failure? Tho witness replied in tlio negative. 31r. Pirani: Have you never lieard _of a girls' school where copying was rife, the discipline weak, and the whole work of the school so unsatisfactory "that it had to bo turned into a mixed school?

"No," replied Miss Helyer. . "Well, what I have said is an actual fact." said Mr. Pirani.

Miss Holyer went on to say that whatever might bo, said in favour of .a mixed school, so far as the improvement in tho tono and general deportment •of the boys was concerned, slin was certain that the girls suffered a disadvantage. The' boys gaiii, but the girls lost. An important argument in favour of separate schools or departments for girls' classes, as opposed to the prineiplo of co-educa-tion in mixed' schools, was that' women teachers would be given the fullest opportunity of working out their ideals iu tho education of girl life.

Reform in Infant Teaching. Miss Fitch, in charge of tho infant department at tho Teachers' Training College in Wellington, spoke of the necessity for properly organising education (in its widest sense) for infants between the ages of three and seven. Tho pioneers of the, free kindergarten movement were presenting the cause of the children of three to five, and it had fallen upon her to ask fori a move rational form of education for the babies live to seven. Unwieldly Classes. ' Defects in tho present system resulted from the linwicldly sizo of the classe*. A Wellington suburban school had 110 on tho infant roll, in four divisions. The infant mistress had one junior assistant, who took olio division, leaving tho infant mistress with three divisions—averago number above 70. One room contained 152 "babies" in it —two classes, one of 92 ailil the other CO. The class of 02, in charge of an assistant and pupil teacher, 7p wero in charge of a pupil teacher, and 65' were in charge of a pupil teacher. Thoro wore two class-rooins of 22ft. by 22ft., built for. forty children, iu which there have been ; as many as 70 children.

Salaries: An Interesting-.Comparison. '' Miss N. Coad, (junior assistant mistress at Newtown School),'in her evidence in chief, said that in the matter of salary, while admitting' that'" women teachers were better off than tlioy used to be, yet, considering the increased cost of living, and tho salaries paid to women in other departments of the Govornmont service, the salaries of women in the lower grades were not wliat tliey should be. Members of a profession which entailed special study and training, wero entitled to special pay, but this was not so. Tho lowest grade, Al, provided n .£9O minimum and a .£lO5 maximum. Nearly all the teachers in this grade . wero women. After four years' training a teacher could obtain .£9O, increasing by ,C 5 increases, till, ut tho'end of sevea years, she would receive <£105, with no assured prospect of promotion. In tho proposed scheme of classilicfltion for the Civil Service, it was recommended that the salaries of all juniors, including women, should be .£lls in tho iifth year-yet the woman teacher, by a normal rate of progression, took seven years to reach ,£lO5. Further, under " tho Government classification, tho salaries of women in (lie Civil Servico proceeded by <£10 increment, _JjU. in her ninth year she reached .£lO5. If by any chance a woman teacher did proceed steadily into tlie next grade—.£los to rising by .£5 increments—-sho would only reach .£l2O in her eleventh year, while a t girl two years her junior in length of service would 'receive .4105. A shorthand writer anil typist could enter the Government service at £70, and rise steadily to J3ICO in about eight years. It was suggested as a remedy for this stafe of affairs that the minimum of these lower grades bo raised by £20, and proceed by £10 increments for nine years.

Matrimonial Plums. Mr. Kirk: In making these comparisons with other branches of tho Government service, have you taken into account the fact that in'these other Departments longer hours aro worked? Miss Coad: I have.. But the fact is that the teacher's day, although nominally short, is more exaoting. More concentration is required. No afternoon teas?— No. (Laughter.) What tibout tlio girls in tho Telephone Exchange—is their work- rot exacting? What holidays do the women teachers receive in the year? Miss Coad: Wo get fix weeks in tho summer—but that is not our fault. (Laughter.) The press and politicians tell us that wc are doing noblo work. Mr. Kirk: Then why not stress your contention from these points of view.- instead of comparing the salaries of the one with those provided for tho other? Miss Coad: I considered all tho points, balanced tho one with the other, and came to tho conclusion that the comparison was justified; Mr. Kirk: Mind you, I-am not to bo understood as being opposed to tho idea, that lietter salaries should bo paid. To Mr. Davidson: The reason why women. teachers in city schools preferred to remain in the towns was that the increased emoluments offered for certain positions in tlio country did not compensate them for tho inconvenience of residing ill tho back-bloeks.

Mr. Hogben: You state that it takes seven years to reach .£lO5. How do you make that, out? , Jliss Coad replied that she Included pupil-teacher and training college training. "You consider that serviceP" Yes. It is work dene iu tho interests of school efficiency, i The chairman: Do you know thj,t in many cases women teachers are obliged to take with them, for protection in tlieir isolated situations in the back-b'ocks, a member of-their family? . Yes. "That wotild eat into her sfilafy?" Yes. "The niatrimbiiial phinw art not Rtifficielitlv abundant to make tho prospect attractiveI—eh1 —eh ? But-, of course, you are not of that age yet." The witness smiled. Mr. . Pirani: JTow ninny cases do you kn"\v of where wniuen teachers have boon obliged to telle a companion with iliem iiitn th" back-bloeks? Miss Coad: In my own exnerienee. (ivo. "Tf T were the wifne". T diould sr\y 20, in my experience, said the chairman.'

The Country Settler: His School. Tlic linn. .1. Anstoy. M.l.spfnkini: as a school coinmitteenia'i of many years' pxperi^nc o . e aid lhat h" proposer! In onnP.nn hi? n'itHicn tfi aspect of •'diir.i. tion whioh conccmod the urent and hit

children, and, more especially, the country settlers ami llio country school. To .Mr. Kirk: }lo was opposed to compulsory continuation classes. He believed ill those classes, by alt means, but attendance thereat should bo purely voluntary. With lognrd to tlio leakage from tlie schools—in the upper classes—Sir. Anstey .submitted that this was to be expected, especially among girls in the rural districts. The farmer's wife was the hardest worked woman in the country—bar none—and she had to have some help. He thought that a mistake hail been made in. making school attendance compulsory on every school day—it was impossible to enforce that. 'When (hey had one day's they were able to Miforco attendance on the other four. Now. people were pvndiiiK the law, Ming advantage of laxity in its enforcement, and growing earclcss. He thought: that then, had been an undue multiplication of small county schools. Frequently, opposition was' shown by settlors to the closing of <i country school, when that was necessary, because that- might depreciate the selling value ot tlieir land. Settlers wanted to be able to say. when advertising their land for that a school was within, say, half a mile—tliey wanted the school so that it could bo an asset to tlieir property, which was absurd. . To Mr. PolaiUl: He did not agree to the proposition that the Government should have the right to insist, when a private estate was being cut up, that provision should be made lor ..file selling aside of a school site. The Government hail no right to take frcm a private individual kind for school, purposes any more, than for any other purposes.

Amalgamating Rural Schools, Mr. ,T. H.' Worboys, headmaster of the Kiibirnio School, mado a statement on behalf of the Wellington branch, of the New Zealand Educfttioual Institute, lio urged the desirableness of amalgamating the small country schools. The regulations,', ho pointed out, provided that no grant for conveyance would be made for a less distance than three miles, and in any case amalgamation was desirable whore the 6ch0013 wore less than three miles apart. The Gartjrton School belt (Wairarapa) could be heard, at five neighbouring schools, within a three-mile radius, with the majority of the children were within walking distance of the Carterton School, the .average attendance at which' was now 2G9. Willi tho children from within tho radius named flip attendance could be raised -to 52!), with a resultant increaso in efficiency created by a. bigger staff. Tho Pahiatua District High School ami its neighbouring schools afforded another example of the desirubility of amalgamation, Dominion Council. Mr. C. Watson, 8.A., headmaster of tho To Aro School, also gave evidence on behalf of the Teachers' Institute, and said that it was very desirable to establish a Dominion Council of Education, with advisory, not administrative, functions.. It slioufd bo so constituted as to be. competent to give advico on all matters educational-- university, secondary, primary and technical. Therefore it should be made up of representatives of university professors, teachers for every dass of school, inspectors, and 'perhaps* representatives of' Chambers of Commerce. Such a council would be mado of enormous advantage to the Dominion, as the Government would always, have at hand a Ixxlv fit to give reliablo information ajid sound advice., 'Constituted on the suggested line, it would cost practically nothing, and it need not disturb existing organisation. at all. The Free Kindergarten.

Mrs. T. H. Gill, giving evidence on behalf of the free kindergarten schools of tho city, made a strong plea for more substantial assistance wlierowith to carry on what was admittedly a vuluablo social work. In 11)09 the Government paid by way of subsidy £115 lOs., increased to ,£220 10s. the following year, and to 10.5. tho year total of 10s., against which tlio Froo Kindergarten Society had disbursed roughly .£2ooo—in salaries ,£1302 17s. lid., and in other expenses, .£584 2s. 4il. Mrs.. Gill asked that ,they might 1«- placed on a similar footing with other charitable organisations— £ for £, or'over., To Mr. Pirani: The society would have no objection to the Government taking over tihe work.

• Evidonco on behalf of tho Free Kindergarten was also given by Miss Freeman, who explained that they wero only allowed to reccivo children up to tho ogo of fivo. Tlioy would like to bo able to admit such children between 5 and 7 as might not be allowed by their mothers to attend tho public schools. In addition they w;ero allowed to receiro mental defectives up to soven years. There was a certain amount of prejudice entertained by State school teachers towards tihe free kindergarten. They wouljl prefer a lump sum at the beginning of the year—tliey would then kuoiv nhcro tliey were. Technical Schools! The following was crowded out of our issuo of yesterday:— Mr. W. S.,La Trobe, Director of tho Wellington Technical School, .said that in technical and secondary schools the teachers wero usually competent so far as knowledge of subjects was concerned, but were not generally trained ftuflicieiitly in teaching methods and tho general scionco of pedagogics. Salaries in these schools were too low, also. The university colleges, as at present constituted, wero largely technical and continuation evening schools. Tho establishment ot evening classes in tho university collepoa for students who wero employed (luring tho day in earning a livelihood, or mastering tho ordinary practice of their profession, was a distinct encroachment on tho legitimate field of technical school work. The intrusion of the university into matters outside its own. sphere had had bad. effects both on tho university and on'the technical eduention system. For tho university, it meant missing largely the .main aims of a university—that of king the, highest centro of national spirit and_ national thought, ani aim which, realised, would make it the nursery of national leaders. This bad effect eiitailed loss of prestige to tho university, and a cheapening of tlio degrees granted. For the technical school it meant a loss of some of tho higher work, a consequent increaso of difficulty in maintaining a high scientific standard, and tlio loss of tho essential quality of university in its own sphere. New System of Promotion Needed.

Mr. W. L. Foster, secretary of tho Wellington branch of tho Eduoation'_ Institute, read a report of a sub-committee of tho institute on the question, of classification, and appointment of teachers. The Institute recommended that tho power of appointment be vested ill tho Education Board alone; that inspectors classify teachers on tho bases of: (1) Teaching ability; (2) educational attainments; (.1) length of service; that teachers bo notified of this classification, and that they have tho right to appeal if not satisfied; that teachers Im> appointed to vacancics on the recommendation of inspectors. Promotion should depend on efficiency, and inspectors were tho only men with first-hand expert knowledge .of tlio qualifications and abilities of teachers. Tho institute did not favour a Dominion pohenie of promotion, but tho existing education districts required readjustment, with a view to eliminating small districts. George Macmorran, headmaster of the Terrace School, gave evidence on . the primary school syllabus. He was satisfied with tho syllabus, generally speaking' Discussing Salaries, James C. "Webb, headmaster of the Notmai School, also represented the "Wellington branch of the institute. Ho submitted recommendations that the minimum in every grade should ibe increased by £2<J, anil that it.be raited by annual in-. crnineiits of .£lO for nine succeeding .veara; that all married.assistants receive IioUM allowance on tho same scale as headinnsterti; and that lio teacher's salary be reduced owing to in the grade of a school through diminished attendance. lie drew some striking comparisons behVoeu salaries of teachers, ana the rates of pav ruling for workmen, artisans, and clevksi in various other branches of tho public service.