SCHOOL PROBLEMS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1493, 16 July 1912, Page 6

SCHOOL PROBLEMS.

EDUCATION COMMISSION.

, , SECONDARY MASTERS 1 PAY ' AND DISABILITIES. ;

IENERAVGODLEY ON THF; CADETS

Tho Education Commission concluded tho heai\ing,.pl; .ordinary evidence; yester- ; In Defence of. Rpards. • Tho ssfcretaty;'of thoAVelliugton Education Hoard (Mr.'G.-'-'L,'' Stewart) said lie felt it-desirable to make reference to a . -general' and severs ('criticism of' the administration, jof-iediicutinn ~boards, .which ."was presented to tho commission laS't-week , by the Secretary: for .Education," tli3 : . effect of whichl.ivas.that. in boards generally, there was'neither virtue nor capacity. 'In this conclusion ho could not i concur. : -Thei methods of administration suggested ■i tots quits general were, hot the. methods '.': of the "Wellington,.. Board} ; : which ,was composed; of experienced men';who' faced the problem of the district With ability and integrity. In this district, where "an application for a school or for ..increased ■. aceommddation appeared to the board not .'; to.be justified, the/applicant was'always m informed.- The 'conclusion .bf the'board --■was reached after consideration and investigation of the matter.by fine or more of tho inspectors. tho probabilities .". and permanency: of attendance were:not great, temporary arrangements were in- • .variably-.made. .To",suggest . that 'there was practically ; a collusion. of parents and committees .with'the'.!board and inEpectors' did.nibtlrepresent .Iho-'facts as, they.existed in .the'TWellington district.' .■', 'As another instance- of economy ho men- ' .tibns'd' that-during.the last eight years the' hoard had moved' about eight buiidings, to 'Bo'r'ye in'oth'er localities.'/, ■' -;■ ... .The whole '.difficulty. centred - round one . problem; .which all the'skill of.-'the Department and.of.'the .boards' hiid not. yet : solved, nameljythe. discovery of a'general. ' iPrinciple. on. ,'retjuired for new buildings might be fairly, distributed 'to''.boards so, as to give them-.'the.'funds necessary for fairly meeting their.- requirements..;lf:'the. officers'of'the Depart-' 'ment'hnH tailed/to-:elucidate' such aprin,'ciplc, lie- failed: to s'ec'.flint the- boards' i 'should-j fee .condemned.■■' Great' sympathy: • ■ was felt.' for, small • groups', of- settlers in 'the back-bldcfcs,' nnd where- proper means :of conveyance could not be arranged tho. Ixiard riaturally"approved, proposals .for providing them with a school/convincing Evidence being first forthcoming ' that there w^Uld/beV'a.'.sufficient. .attendance.; - Speculation' in: land, however, was so common that w'itli.'tho' most'careful scrutiny the number of pupils had entirely, changed liefora the school w-'as opened;'■ Even- caro : •was always','.exercised.' He hvas-'satisfied, that the. boards' -had faithfully, -and well , fulfilled'. theUtrust. -.imposed-- in them.. Schools.on the; whole-, were capably: man-', m-geri and the . children.-.were-efficiently' v taught, syhite'regularity of. attendance had greatly improved.' These results had' been achieved ''with advanta'gb of public nioney not greater .than was found in; tho. Departments of State'which,carried' out their 'duties under direct' Stdte,''cqii't'rbl:'; ' :

i Not Suffipieni; playgrounds.. .:/' j: ; The insufficiency of playground accom- !,. modation both in city and country was ;'" a question which had presented great difficulties, ,'to the •Wellington'.Board.,.,, The. V original reservations' for .school-sites in' ;.■ ■ the district were insufficient iruiuinber, in ; some..instance in' area, arid>in::'many in- !' ,'. stances -below, the stnndard.tb'g'qnali'ty. In tlie.'.opiniori.'of the- board' ; ,ini;couritry, clis- ;■'• tricts-an area bT'at' least'("five''.acre's 'of ; . the most siritable land, iitf.tho'.' district'. ■■■'... . should be provided. Ah' uirea of ten acres; •.'.,'■'" Would be still better in a district where' I the school was likely, to attain any con- ■ siderable size.„Ho was of opinion that , sufficient care'>liad : not 'been exorcised in ■ ■-; laying out sites in' ; districts where ; estates 1 had been acquired for r closer settlement. ; In some instances'/no si'te-' : at all had been provided. Ho was further of opinion that ; ; 'where-a private owner subdivided any con- ■;, , - siderable area.of land, for closer settle- ;.■'. a school will'be.reauired in '■:'." the district ,he should be,require"d in the subdivision of it to provide free of cost '■/ to the State an'area'of at least fivo . acres. This would be no in justice to the '~ private owner; for the. presence, of mi ;, school in a neighbourhood-hardened the value of land. His boards had had to spend large sums in of necessary sites for suburban •=Schools. Tho practice of providing i'aljr hjilf"jjost was ' one which tended to hamper - very-- great- :■ ly the building finances. I 'of a!.board'. He f was of opinion that the-' boards- should • not bo ..required: to pay'half cost.'- He ; thought powers'-of com- ;. * pulsory-ooquirement'of sites-in'suburban j ■ ; areas were:not sufficient.for boards. Since ;■ 1907 the Wellington-Board had had to : , pay. .£SOOO in excess of grants amounting x to ~-£3BOO-in--the purchase of school sites. !'..• . The expenditure of this.largo; sum on ( ' rites had rendered, i': necessary to defer j . 'fl number of works, chiefly of reconstruc- ' son. . ~.';,; ....'■ ..:;.'. . •:■..! . '

'V." !'"• Bad Attendance;.-'..',';. ■.'•.:,-.";, The compulsory clauses of tho Education Act hadrbeen administered with considerable carje.during tho past, few years, with tlio result that tho average percentage of attendance, had. risen" from 82.9 in 1900 to 90.1 in .1011. ..-He drew attention, however, to certaini.defects in the Act.' It ' allowed children to evade, the truant officei- by .transferring-from bno schoolto another, 'and, la child might' be absent for several weeks without, a, 'breach, of the Act, no offeiicobe'ng complete until seveh, days after.'sery'ice of notice oh tho parent 'to enrol the child:-Also children of school age were; not ■infrequently employed during schsoMiours on goods delivery carts. He suggested (hat"a-penalty.'be imposed.as n deterrent, onus of disproof of an offence to rest.,with the employer. It would be nn improvement, too, if children not un- , dor proper control, mid guilty of habitual truancy, were committed to industrial schools in the. earlier stages of truancy. At. present they were,net'committed until they lapsed into actual .Misdemeanour.

: ,'. An Expert's Proposals. Professor J. M; E. Garrow, of Victoria College, forwarded a memorandum out-. lini,n? pfopoSal.s'which he thought must in time bo'carried out. "Were they given ■.effect' fni the 'country -would be given ail .education system ' which would , develop' naturally upon a definite,'plan; as resources increased. It was exceedingly im■portant that there should bo a. 'definite educational policy which would be steadily pursued notwithstanding'.-changes .n the personnel ■of ilie. .governing. body. 'Without policy the system would simpUf'drift;as!educational fashions changed.'*. Tile ■matter'of rhost urgent importance Aras"the'proper co-ordination of all cducitio'paljivork below the university under ohe'icentral controlling... body. There should be one system . for the infant school, to ithe.'university.. .Continuation schools w.exe reciuifed, and their'work', should dQvetai! v into that of th> primary schools:'similarly"with;-the. technical schools., Each step in the system should follow the'.preceding one: without a, break, and'there,should be.only, such overlapping as was 'necessary to ensure continuity of the work. "The present svsfeni of different' goycrni.n<r . bodies," different systems.-different methods of work, and could not possibly produce the' best re.-ults. The system should be' a" national one right through; oi/B definite" policy should be adonted and carried out under ; the e'nntrri of a r<Miinete' , t Ttifhority.Some central controlling authority whs "re-, quired in the form of a. permanent board or council of-education;-consisting or* persons, skilled ..in'educational work-dud in

finance. Under the administration of -such a body it. would be possible to -have a really national system of education risht up to the University.. Such a system would secure a definite, ordered rilan of education; a saving of money and educational energy,'a conservation of time and enersy of pupils..avoidance of unnecessary overlapping! '■ The nresent scholarship system could be largelv dispensed with, uniformity in the work and methods or in- ' spection would be secured, various. syllabuses would be framed by and carried out under the 0110 body, and nuiny of tho present examinations would lie'done nwnv with. Other suggestions he innde for improvement in the system "were: Abolition of the vicious system of grants for individual pupils in individual subject*: a plan for making the' more attractive, to men'.'*and ! 3snecinlly-fo tenche.rs in the outlying, districts: minimisation, as far as'possible, of the disadvantages of the system-of payment on average attendance;" establishment - of a

national system of promotion for teachers; considerable reduction in the number of education boards, Tour or five of which would be quite sufficient.

Woes of Secondary Masters. Sir. A. C. Gilford, senior mathematical and'sciilueo master at Wellington College, gave evidenco on behalf of tho staff of the Wellington Boys' College. If the best work possible was to be done by a teacher he must bo able to give all his time ami ; to devote all his energies to the interests of his school. Every teacher, therefore, should receive sufficient salary to enable him to support his family without undertaking auy'outside work. At present this was impossible. There was hardly a married secondary teacher who was not forced to burn the candle at both ends. After the day's work came a strenuous ■ evening, and instead of a welcome break at each week-end, ciiino further toil. Of the presnnt college stuff, fifteen had found it-necessary to supplement their incomes by private, coaching, ami* in addition no less than seven taught evening, classes at the Technical School. So the teacher lost the leisure for thought and recreation which were so essential to give freshness to his work. The obvious remedy was to ■iy more adequate salaries. No man became a teacher to make money; if he wanted wealth he would go elsewhere to, yet it. Men usually started teaching because they had a special inclination and aptitude for it. Two possible ways presented themselves for improving salaries'. . One was to increase considerably •the! size of each class.' Teachers would face this willingly if it would bring about the-amelioration thev desired, but there could be no doubt that it would impair the efficiency of tho schools. The other was for the Government; to grant to governing: bodies of secondary schools a higher capitation for each free scholar. As the parent of primary school scholars, he protested against the staff's and salaries in primary schools being dependent on average attendance. . The value of the superannuation .scheme to the secondary teacher. w'as most seriously 'discounted' by .the provision- that the benefits.were, to be calculated on the salary received during" the hist three years of" service. Statistics showed that of secondary assistants-less than three per cent, reach the age of-SO,-.'and "less than one. per .ceiif. the age of 60; in' the service. In the' report of the 'leathers. Superannuation 'Eund. 1911, the. names of five men are recorded as receiving the-benefits of superannuation in connection with secondary ' schools, but ofthesc, two were janitors, two were secretaries of governing bodies, 'and only ono a. secondary' teacher. in this respect secondary teachers were at a disadvantage compared with primary teachers, -'n that tlfe'y'begiii teaching much later; and have to a'nitich smaller degree security of tenure. , Secondary teachers wore expected to take an active part in the' outside life of their school, and' when, through advancing years, they were compelled to take .lighter work wholly indoors, tjioyi lost superannuation benefits. ■If this .Hoc'could-bo removed it would encourage good men to Teuuvin longer inthe service, greatly- to'the benefit. ; of. the, schools, lie thoroughly approved-of the .principle: of- the" free-place system, but thought the administration could be improved in two ways—first, by restricting tho-bcnelit'S to those, who showed rSomcdecided.aptitude:to profit ly.it,'and, sec-, ond;;.!)!' paying a much higher'c'apitationV for those selected.: .If it w'e-re found impossiblel.fo.increase tlie..t6tal. expenditure.' on the free-place system, he suggested that the entrance examination bo'nmde'n. much more'stringent test, nnd that'.tho money thus saved, tie utilised in paying the higher capitation. It was very desirable that some means Should be devised, to encourage the brighter free scholars to stay longer at the secondary school. Ho did. not think .that, the great majority of college boys/were in any danger, from injury through too many- examina- : tious, but ..suggested, ,I'he, -.elimination of the competitive element from' ' the., junior/university 'scholarship examination.'

,"'';' Music Neglected, 1 Mr. Laurence F. Watkin, Bachelor of Music, and president of the Wellington Society of Professional Musicians, forwarded a letter .to the Commission by wa£ of submitting written-evidence. He condemned roundly the 'teaching of music in schools, and',:lie attributifd.. the, bad, .teaching to the incompetence of a. great' many of the teachers. The system of allotting nearly as large a percentage o'f marks to the theoretical as to the practical part \>f • the teachers' examination was utterly wrong. A teacher could, by reading learn sufficient to pass in theory, and bo unable to sing two notes correctly. I.t : was an obvious absurdity that such a person should be empowered to teach singing. ; He did not say that thoro was no good teaching of singing inj schools, or that there- was no good training of students, but there was not nearly enough of it. He recommended that two highly qualified teachers, trained in th.6 English system, be obtained from England to take charge of the musical training of, teachers in the Training Colleges, and also to act as inspectors of the music in schools, giving special attention' to those schools' where music was not taught.

Better Salaries: The Remedy. Professor H.. Mackenzie, Victoria College, also submitted written evidonce. To secure the highest efficiency iu oiir educational system lie wa N S abundantly satis-fied-that the status* and emoluments iu tlio higher departments of the profession should be equal to those of the other learned profession. Conditions-should be such that all persons, adopting education as their profession, should have an opportunity to work their way by study, industry, application to duty, and ! efficient service to tho highest positions iu the profession. Every .teacher should undergo training at a training college. The salaries in tho secondary schools should bo tfii a higher seiile than those in the primary schools. No candidate should be eligible for a mastership iu a secondary school ivho had • not been trained at a training college, and who had not secured a university degree. N:> candidate should be appointed to the inspectorate! who had not had ten years' experience in teaching—at least five ill primary school as headmaster.' He strongly condemned the proposal to permit the life of the Bible in the curriculum oT State schools.

Physical Culture. Mr. Robert Darfoch, headmaster of the Eoseneath School, spoke of physical culture in schools. The teaching of physical culture, ho said, had been haphazard, unsystematic, and in many cases harmful, due no doubt to a largo extent to'ignorance'on Hie part of teachers or instructors. He would 'recommend the teaching of deep breathing exercises. He urged the advantages of organised games as an agency in character building, and in order to play them extensive playgrounds were necessary. -.'■''

Need for Ventilation. JlissE.M. -Rowley, of "Wellington Girls' College, dealt at length with' the hygienic, conditions under .which, sonic '■primary scholars;- are working, making particular reference, to lighting, cleaning, 'heating,' ventilation, and other hygienic matters. .' She urged that window space was often-insufficient'.to light. a room properly pn'dull days, and the amount of tight was often reduced through infrequent cleaning. : The present methods of'cleaning schools constituted a menace io the-health of children, and some schools were allowed to got into n deplorably dirty'condition. -The heating methods now supplied were often totally inadequate, and should be .supplemented by efficient radiators. 'Ventilation was ■frequently-.very-defective! and no means of controlling tho ingress of fresh air were supplied. As Br. '"ruby Jung had stated, many schools were nothing better than closely-sealed boxes. No reform was more urgently heeded than in this matter. 'Another urgent need was the provision of suitable quarters for the children to play ;ih, and take their luncheon on rainy days. Something ought to-lw done to provide for the existing need and also to improve the impoverished and sordid surroundings" of many schools.

"A Bogus Military Organisation," General Godley, Commanding ths New Zealand Defence Forces, discussed tlie control' of'the- junior cadet system. It was absolutely unnecessary for boys of from twelve to fourteen years of age to carry 11 rifle, n'nd he thought fourteen years was young enough for boys to begin military training. If (lie two sy.'cms ul' military, organisation lir.d nol. bc;'n in establishment, his first step would, have biien tii 'demilitarise the juiiiur cadets. The reason for putting junior cadets under the Education Department was to protect, them from the,military autbori'ties, to protect' thein from being made soldiers, but. the effect had been-the. direct opposite.- A separate 'military organisation hart been- s-:t up' over which he had no control, so that when, a ■ boy tamq.

under his control at the age of fourteen it was impossible that, the military authorities could lake •.'oguisunec of. what lie had douo in the way of military training. "A separate, bogus, and anomalous military organisation has Ikcii set up," he said, "w.hich from a military point of view is of course very undesirable. Jt docs not really affect us to any extent, because we can't recognise it in any way, but it puts the people concerned in it into a very false position, because they have the titles of officers. They wear the uniform of officers, and in every way tlioy carry out their work as officers, but they Iwve no cumiuissicns as officers, ft is purely « bogus military organisation." He was careful to s-ay that he had no feeling against Mtc junior cadets—he was immensely interested in them, and he took pleasure in helping them all he could, but it was of course finite illogical and indefensible that there could be any sort of military organisation set up independent of the head of the military fcrces, whoever lie might happen to be. He believed very much in the boy snout training, and lie believed thai: it could be applied to both junior and senior cadets with good effect. But he would net make military training compulsory until boys weri' 1-t years of age. .luiiicr racists should be trained in physical exercises, With verv little drill. , In onswrr to members of the Commission he s-nitl he had no objection to cadets being under the Education Department, but his .saw the strongest possible reasons why they should not be doing military work under a separate military organisation. He did not altogether anprove of the hoy scout organisation, although he approved of the training. He disapproved very strongly of the keeping of boy scouts out late at night, doing their work. lie believed the British Army system of physical , culture could be nsed with slight modifications for school children. Colonel Heard, Director.of Staff Duties and Military Training, supplemented the General's evidence on physical training. He agreed that it would be well to demilitarise the junior cadet .system. 'He would recommend boy scout training and physical training for • primary' school boys. There need be nothing military about physical drill. If v;as taken un by the army for the good of the soldiers,-and there were thousands of civilians who went into it for their : own good. . The army system was of such a nature that, it could be modified to such an extent as to suit the smallest child, Its success in practice- must .depend -upon the trainer, for an improperly trained instructor could do little good. , This concluded the ordinary evidence. To-day the members of the Commission will visit schools in'the city to take note of the architecture of the buildings, the lighting, heating, and ventilation of them, the disposition of the staffs, and the internal organisation generally, and the general demeanour of the pupils. The evidence of the Insneetor-Goneral (Mr. G. Hogben) will be taken ,to-niorr.ow.