EDUCATION BILL.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2204, 17 July 1914, Page 4

EDUCATION BILL.

IMPpRTANT ADMINISTRATIVE .. Changes. i . on.. •: • • ■ . INCREASED SALARIES. POPULAR ELECTION OF BOARDS. ■ .'-The ! Educiitiola Amendment Bill was introduced by Governor's Message., - _The, Hdn.-:3B, ALLEN: (Minister of, Education) explained the, provisions in' tho Bill." Hjj wished to say at the outset that lie- proposed to ask for'the .second reading.-pro forma, and to refer the Bill to the; Education Committee. Honourable mombers would rccoHec't tliat -a- Royal-. Oonimission was set up by tlio' Mackenzie ' Government to inquire into our education system, and that';.-the report, of ,that ■ Commission had been, considered by the Education ' Committee" of ';the House. ■ Both: the Commission and: the'., committee had made recommendations to the House, and certain of tho , recommendations both of. the/-Commission - and of tlio were, • in the Bill. • Provision', wail made in the Bill- for tho setting up -of a Council of Education, but as to :,the constitution of thocouncil'he vhad'not- followed the advice of either the Commissio nor the Committee. It had. seemed' to him advisable that, tho women of this country should have;'-repi ; esentation : on the' pouncil, and lie ,had;iprovided that primary school' teachers ishould elect one woman to; the. council; jand the secondary and technical;! school l teachers anptjier. lie had left power in the hands of tho Minister of'. Education to appoint another woma!n, who need not necessarily bo coniiected with teaching in New Zealand. With'regard to the constitu-tion-of the council ho would point out that its representation was provided for primary,, secondary, and technical schools; and foi; the University. An attempt bad been made to provide for a wido'.representation of all educational interests in the country on the- body, which would be an advisory body merely. ■ It would consist of seventeen members. -"' None of them would receive salary, but only'expenses. Council of Education. • following wpiijd be the constitution of the .council-^ .- ••'(a'j .'i'tte Director-'of Education, who shall be chairman. (b) The Assistant Director of Education. who shall bo chairman iu tho ab-sence-of .-the' Director. (c) Ono. other officer of tho Education Department, appointed by the Minister. (d) Two members elected by the members of thg education board's in the North Island, and.'two members elect.cd by the; members of tho education boards in : the South Island. (e) One member. ejected ■ by certificated, male teachers of public schools in the North Island, and one member elected* by certitcated male teachers of public schools in. the South Island. (f) One member elected by the male teachers ill secondary and technical schools. - - . (g) One member elected by certificated women-teachers'of public schools in the North Island, .and one member elected by certificated V'omeii teachers of publie schools in th?. South Island. ' - (h)'One member elected by the women teachers of the secondary and technical schools. (i) One member of the University of the Senate : and •; (j) Three.!members appointed by the Minister—namely, two to represent industrial interests (ono of whom shall represent agriculture), ami one (a -woman) to represent the interests of the education of girls.i District Councils, .. Ho proposed to make a new depart-

uro not recommended by either the Commission, or the Committee. There were certain questions upon which the Minister* might wish, to have advice from- a district Council, and 110 proposed to ask the House to allow the Ministerpower' to ■ constitute district councils, to consist .of, fivo members, one of whom; (the chairman) would bo the Director of Education, or,any 'other of« ficer of tho Education Department who might bo selected. Following will bo tho constitution of. - the District Councils:— ' .: (a) The Director 'of. Education, or any ' other officer of ' the Education Department appointed for that purposo by ; the "'Minister, who shall be chairman. ' 1 ,1 . (b) A ,member of tho General Council of Education appointed by the Education Board of the district. fo) Tho senior inspector of tho district. • ... . (d) A member of the General Council appointed by tho Minister to. represent the teachers of public schools of tho Island in which the. district is situated: (0) Olid or more other persons appointed 'by- the Minister —namely, 'a representative of an urban school district, or a representative of teachers of secondary, and technical schools, or any. other person. Nine Education Districts. Alterations were proposed in the Education .Board districts. The Commission had recommended that tho country should be divided into four or fivo education districts, and the Education Committee of tho House had recommended eight or .nine. Ho had proposed nine districts. He did not see his way to adopt the Commission's suggestion, because he thought under that proposal the districts would have been too' large. He thought nino. districts was tho smallest number advisable. The main reason why it was proposed that, education districts, should Ibo made smaller was because :under'existing conditions it was almost impossible for a teacher in some of tho smaller Education Board districts, and especially on the West Coast of the South Island, to- find a career, aiid.it. was. in_-order, to give a ; teacher the' possibility of further advancement that this demand had come that the education 'districts should be made larger There was another reason, but it was not the main reason, that the reduction in tho .number of districts.-.would load to certain economies <in expenditure. To divide the country nip into , these nine'districts was of bourse a very difficult problem. He had put into the Bill certain proposals for division, and these proposals would be. considered by th'e Education' Committee:. If the committee could not'agree upoa boundar-' jes, or, if the Hpuse could not .agree, he :_would' l 'suggest '.tha,t' the 'matter be decided by a Royal Commission. The education districts and . .their headquarters towns are as follow:— North Auckland, Auckland; Waikato, Hamilton: Egmont, Waiiganui; Wellington, Wellington ; Hawke's Bay, Na- , pier;. Nelson, -.Nelson; . Canterbury, .Christchurch; Otago, Diinedin; Southland, Invercargill. Conduct of Elections. More or-, .less important' alterations to be made in the constitution'of boards. As honourable mem-, -.bers knew education boards ; wero how elected by school committees; and tfero ; had beon in. some places a good deal of ■ dissatisfaction with this method of eleo» tion. He had proposed that ' thero should be ..threo -processes of election. Ho proposed to divide every education district into urban and-rural districts. -;Tho number of . members for every ur-. ban district would be two members for •every 60,000 or part of 60,000 of -the population: provided that no ' urban >area should have, a representation of' [more than four members. ' The rural : districts would bo .'divided into, wards, ■ai\d every ward would eject two meih- • bers. -; In the -urban districts the - ejection of members of boards .would,be upqntho municipal'franchise, but in the rural districts lie, had not seen his way to alter the present mothod of election' —by tho school committees. Power was ■given in the Bill to allow urban areas, if they so. desired, to combine, into one •urban school district, and in such an urban school district it was proposed that school committees should be elected 011 the municipal, franchise'. Ho could not 1 use the ordinary electoral roll for v this reason, that an, election upon it would 'cost the. country £18,000 or ;'£20,000, and this money could be much spent-upon the schools. For the 'election of school committees in the •rural districts ho/could not see any' other practicable method .oft election than tho present system—by the householders. ■ ' - i . ; Centralisation of Inspectors. The amount.of grants to be supplied to Education Boards would depend to ,a large extent on whether the House would agree to a, suggestion he would make about inspectors. Ho had subemitted a proposal that, inspectors should he brought.into closer .'touch with the -Department. ■ Honourable - members might say that this meant centralisation iof tho and so to an extent ■it ; did.' It meant centralisation with regard to the pay and classification of inspectors, but it left inspectors to do ,'thej.work they were now doing- for Education. Boards in exactly the same way. as at present. They would be ap■pointed by'the Crown also. If the'inspectors 'we're taken-over by the Crown Education Boards would bo relieved of an expenditure of about £20,000. He did not propose in the. Bill to' deprive the Education Boards of the whole of the - £20,000. What was proposed was that instead of tho Government paying 12s, per head into the board's funds,, the' Government would pay lis. This would mean that- the boards would be relieved of expenditure to the extent of £20,000, apd the Government were deducting from them about £10,000. With this £10,000 it-was proposed-that they should' pay over to the committees an extra 6d. per head, which would provide for an expenditure of ; about £'1000 extra by school committees. It was intended that the Education Boards should spend part' of the remaining; £10,000 saved to tliem under this proposer , in taking , over the - drainage ana sanitation of school buildings, which was especially desirable in boroughs where connections hadtb bo made with new drainage work. It was estimated that this would absorb £5000, leaving £1000 or the' saving unaccounted for. secondary and Technical Schools. A number of new proposals concerning secondary education, were made in the 'Bill. One was to assist teachers who had been for somo time in tho service of the boards to travel in order to gain wider experience. • Later on it was intended to prdvide schools for backward children, kindergarten schools, and model schools, at which teachers 'who had had insufficient training might gain experience. The granting of scholarships for admission to secondary schools was very much'simplified. Jlore liberal capitation was to be provided lor technical classes. The rates now varied from lid. per head to 9d. per . head. What lie proposed do was to give assistance especially to those ' smaller technical schools uy increasing, the ljd. to 2d., and to' reduce the 9d. to Bd. The Inspectorate. Referring-;again to the. control of inspectors, he said that 110 doubt, there would be difference of opinion about the proposals he had .made, lie had already. told the House that ins|>ccttii's would be brought into close touch with the Education Department. This 'was a most important change. For his own part he had beon at first-opposed to the scheme, but he had been absolutely convinced by the arguments advanced in favour of it. First of all, there would be bo great-a.saving, financially that he hoped to bo able to 'gay the increased

salaries to these inspectors without extra cost to the State. Now, somo inspections were carried, on by tlio Education Department and somo "by tile Education Boards, and in consequence there was overlapping, and the examinations were sometimes unsatisfactory. This was 0110 of tlie reasons why the inspectors should bo put under the direction 4 of the Department, to be arailablo to conduct all the inspections, and so to make them more or less uniform and to avoid extra expense. There were; other reasons for the change. One of tbo first things ho had had to deal witli on coming into office was the very great difference in tlio standard required for proficiency, certificates in the different dis-. tricts. In somo districts it was twice as low as in others, and it was impossible to get a reasonably uniform standard unless tho inspectors were under one control. When an inspector was at the beck and call of Education Boards it was, only natural that he should incline to'give as many proficiency certificates as possible. Some inspectors find given too many, and tlio pupils had gono to tho secondary schools who were not ,properly equipped to receive a, course of secondary • education, and some money had- been wasted upon them by tlio State. On tlio other hand, somo inspectors had given too few certificates.. Cratiing of Teachers. Teacliors had for long been asking for a Dominion scalo of salaries,' but lib had come to the conclusion' that it was practically impossible to grant- this demand, unless a uniform basis for tho grading of teachers wero established. With the inspectors tinder ; tlio control of boards as they were now, it was not' possiblo to bo assured that tho grades given to' teachers in one district were equal in value to those given in another. . Unless this uniform grading could bo arranged it would be impossible to attack any scliemo for a Dominion scale of salaries. In the Bill it was provided that this grading should' be carried on later when the inspectors were brought under the di,rect control of the Department. . Another difficulty-croppcd up in' tho matter of transfers of teachers from one school to another, and from one district .to another." Now a teacher's salary was ■subject to reduction, owing to the fall of the average attendance'at. a school, but ■under:tho Bill of last.yoar it had been provided that no teacher's. salary could'bo reduced until three years after, the school at which he was employed was. reduced in grade. He had decided that even that timo was too short, and the Bill proposed that no teacher's salary. i Should ,pe reduced unless he him.self rofused .to accept a transfer,, to another school or to anothol' district.; The central 'control of the inspectorate would also ensure very much to be desired uniformity in regard to tho interpretation of the syllabus. Unreliable Inspection. ( Another- difficulty which arose under tho-present conditions >was , that it was very difficult indeed for the Department to get an absolutely unbiased and unprejudiced report on the needs of various districts for schools. The Department, for many, years past had been in. the habit of _ accepting the advico of the-, boards' inspectors, and . the practice had been to arrango for; an officer of the Lands Department or somo other officer to visit the locality,' and to'report whether tho dcmajid for a new school -from _the district was reasonable. Ho did not think this Was very satisfactory,- nor did he think'it was very complimentary to .tho boards', or a .proper way of carrying on tho business.Now these special reports would'all bo supplied by tho inspectors, and as thoy •would riot bo in any way under tlio control of the boards, their judgment would be,_absolutcly unbiased and re- ; liable.''. Important alterations were :iiiacle in the law'also, with the object of making tho system, of medical inspection, more off ectivo. With regard- to technical school teachers,.; he did not tiling ho need bay very much. Teacliors in .these schools were brought under the Court of Appeal, a privilege • they liad never previously; enjoyed. Voluntary Contributions and Subsidies. • Important alterations wero proposed in respect of assistance, by way. of subsidy, which he proposed to askthoHouso to provide, in tho Bill for voluntary contributions to primary,' secondary, or technical schools, or to tlio University. The law' now: provided that subsidies, at the rate of pound for pound might bo 'given for all voluntary contributions in cash,-other than tlioso by bequest. He was going to ask tlio House to agree that all contributions, whether given to a-school, otc., or a Board of Governors, or managers having control of any public school should be subsidised. Hitherto tho right to subsidy for voluntary contributions had been given to district high schools, but not to primary schools. It had beeii considered advisable not to take the privilege away from district high schools, / but. to extend it to primary schools; /'Tho rates of subsidy would he as follow.—Pound for pound for .contributions of money other than bequests, ten . shillings in the pound for bc-qucsts of money, ten shillings in tho pound for gifts (other than- bequests) of land or'ot apparatus or material, and live shillings in the pound for every bequest of land, apparatus, or ; material. Aiding Secondary Schools. . At present there was a sort 1 of doublebarrelled way of assisting endowed schools. They had their endowments and their capitation in respect of freeplace pupils. He did not propose to alter capitations for schoolswhich had endowments. amounting to over ( £8 per pupil. This, ho thought, was sufficient, but ho w-as perfectly certain that the income of other schools was not sufficient to enable them to pay their teachers anything liko adequate salaries. So lie proposed to ask the House to ■ agree to ; allow , a further subsidy, to _ increase ' the allowance per head from £12 10s. to £13 10s. Provision would also be made as follows in a .schedule of tho Bill for tho payment of teachers insecondary schools: — (i.) The salary of the principal of a boys' secondary school or of a mixed secondary school shall not be.less than £400 per annum. (ij.)-The salary of the principal of a girls' secondary school shall not he-less than £300 per annum. -. (iii.) The average salary of all the full-time' assistant masters in any secondary school shall not bo less than £1250 per aununi. (iv.)-JTho average salary of all tho fulltime assistant mistresses in any secondary school shall not bo less than £175 per annum. (v.) The salary paid to any assistant teacher in aiiy secondary school shall not bo 'ess than £150 *pcr annum. (vi.) The total amount expended in tho salaries of the teaching staff in any secondary school (exclusive of the lower department) shall not be 'ess than £12 10s. per head of the total number of pupils attending the school exclusive of the pupils in any lower department. . -i ' • (vii.) The number of full-time assistants in any secondary school (exclusive of' the teachers in any lower department) . shall not be less than one for every twenty-five pupils, exclusive of the pupils iii any' lower department, provided that in special circumstances, with'the previous approval of the Minister, any other' arrangement of the stall 1 securing -as nearly as jnss'ble eounl'efficiency may he made. Tt was proposed In pnv extra capitation to these schools, but as a .pud pro quo, it was suggested that the governors should Pay ccrUin minimum salaries, this to make impossible the payment of a starvation wage. Primary School Tcachers. To deal with teachers- in primary school® hud proved i.o he a vor.v difficult problem;' and ho hoped tho solution,

! would bo satisfactory -'to tho Houso and to tho teachers who wciro doing so much for this country. He did not propose to trnverso the mass of detail involved, but it was proposed to decrease tho number of grades from ten to seven, and to increaso salaries from £10 to j £40. Assistants would' also bo .graded similarly. Provision was mado in tlio Bill for the gradual bringing into operation of an increase in, tho staffing of schools. This would nitean. that pupil teachers would gradually bo replaced by assistants. It was inijpossiblo to do this at once, but as teachers becamo available it would be done. Inspectors' Saflaries. It, was- proposed also to grade inspectors. Chief inspectors would receive £565 to £625, senior .inspectors from £490 to £550, inspectors: from £440 to £485, and assistant-iiiispectors' from £365 to £425, the increments in ail grades being £15 per y(->aiC In reply to Mr. Russell ho said that' no definite rule had boon laid down about the ordinary inspisctore inspecting secondary schools. He would consider that question later. The Cost. He. did not think members- realised, what was done under, last year's Bill about which there had heo:a a great deal of misrepresentation. Although the increases granted to teachers under it were alleged to he trifling, they had cost the country £29,000. The : increases in the Bill of this year had to be considered. along with those of last year, and tho provision for the increases 1 of staffing as proscribed m ■ the Act, of 1908. In that Act it was- provided that the staffing should bo increased by regulation, and when tlio Act was in full operation tho extra staffing would cost the country something like' £47,000. He had already said that tha* Act of last year had cost £20,000, but when it came into full operation tfoo extra expenditure required by rfc would, be £41,000. Increases under the Bill of this year would amount to £62,000. The total additional expenditure- under the Acts of 1908 and 1913, and the Bill of 1914 would bb about £15(1,000. In conclusion ho expressed the highest appreciation of the assistance given him iii compilation' of the Bill by the Inspector-General and the other officers of tho Department. Bill Warmly Receded. Mr. G. W. RUSSELL (Avon) congratulated the Minister on his efforts to improve the educative system* He had no doubt' the whole question, would bo considered,above party lines.' The Bill before the House was to a. largo extent the result of a Royal Commission set up by tho Mackenzie Government in 1911. They were aboiit to «mbark on ft policy which would result in soriiethiiig like a centralisation of the educative system. Ho was pleased, that a ! National Council was to bo aetfc tip, and that women teachers wero iio bo re-' presented. Equally important, was tho proposal to reduce tlio numtetr of education districts. In that direction tho Minister was going on tho right lines. Apparently tho funds of school committees wero only to receive a small modicum of assistance. The sunvof £4000 was provided, 'but i there - were ' 2214 schools, and it would still be necessary for the school oomniittees to'i get up concerts, etc., : to increase thesir 'funds. Personally he was sorry -tho Minister had not proposed a- Dominion scale of salaries for. tcachors... l ; - ? 'There • was no distinction in the' Postal Department or Railway Departn&jt. He failed to see why there should'bo a'different scale for teachers in Taranaki, and, sty, Wellington. As to the need.-for the increaso in teachors' salaries, lu> pointed out that while at tho end. of the ye:;,r there were 4723 teachers,'that .numbiir included 3026. wbmou and. 17L7 meji.-' Such a largo disparity showed wis.some cause preventing men frojn being attracted to the teaching prolassioii. • Mr. " J.''A. IiIANAN - " (Inmcargill)commended tho national system of granting teachers, whereby merit alcine was recognised. There -, would'now be u wider field for tho teacher's advancement. Ho supported . centralisation of inspectors, for .without'.that -change; any _ attempt at bringing > about a Dominion grading . of teachers/wouild bo. impossible. It would mean a saviing to the country, and • would .secure a' uniformity of interpretation of th* school syllabus. The-difficulty in their education. sorvice was that it was- not national service. , It .was a sectional ser-

vice, and there was lio central-control. No doubt under tho proposed centralisation of inspectors, somo hoards would enter a protest., The Minister would also have some trouble on his proposal to reduco tho number of districts from thirteen to /lino. Local interests should not prevail when dealing with an education system, and parochial views of having a board in small districts should be deprecated. Ho congratulated tho Minister on introducing a Bill which certainly contained, somo progressive proposals. Sir. T. H. DAVEY (Christchurch East) also congratulated tho Minister. Ho suggosted that every facility should lie given to enable children brought up in tho Roman Catholic schools to go on to tho secondary schools of tho Government. Mr. A. S: MALCOLM (Clutha)' said that he was pleased to seo that many of the proposals he had advocated in the past were embodied in the Bill. It led him to hope that other proposals would also in tho • futuro bo adopted. He was delighted that provision liad been made for the payment of teachers irrespective of the averago attendance. As to endowed schools, if they were not directly controlled by the Department, thoy should not be subsidised. He congratulated both tho Ministers and teachers on tbo Bill. Mr. D:' BIJICK (Palmerston North) thought tho Bill was worthy of the approval of the House. Mr. T. JI. WILFORD (Hutt) asked was provision mado for free uniform school books ? Mr. 'Allen: Free school books will he provided to tnoso parents who cannot pay for them. It was left to the discretion of the. boards. ,' t Woodwork Instructors. Mr. Wilford ask'c-d -was any. special provision mado for the payment cf woodwork instructors in technical schools? He had before him tho case of two woodwork instructors in the employ of the Wellington - Education Board. One had been through tho Otago Training College, in' 1911-12. Ho was 27 years of age; and his salary was £125, with £5 increments. . The other was a carpenter for-13 years. For 12 months he .was a' woodwork instructor, .and he was 28 years of age. His salary was also' £125, ..with £5, incrementsMr. Allen said that provision had been made for technical schools, and there should bo means to pay a fair salary to those men. There . was no special provision. Mr. G. AY. RUSSELL (Avon) said that siuce he spoko the, member for, Y/airau had pointed out that there was a Dominion scale of salaries. The note lie took when the Minister -was explaining tlie Bill was that tlio Dominion scale was impossible on account of variations in districts. Was the Bill to maintain the present system' of universal salary for schools and teachers '. of tlio same class, or- were there to be variations in different, districts? • Sir. Allen said that there was to bo no variation. - T'hev wanted to provido for a Dominion grading, and for a Dominion scale of salaries. As it was now they l could not get a proper Dominion scale because the. grading of one board was; different from another. Tlie Bill was read a first timo. Tho. second reading, pro forma, will be taken to-day. '■ ' ?■ PARTY GOVERNMENT REFORM. MR. HANAN'S BILL. ; ■ . Mr. J. A. „ HAN AN (Invorcargill) , moved the second reading of the Election of Ministers and Party Government- Reform Bill; Ho'urged that , it was a woll-known fact that in all countries tlio party system' of Government Was breaking down, and '.here, was a cry for: some, reform. 'There, was ,an. appalling. wnstß of'.timb and- money un-' dor the present system of party. Government; He .wanted ! to establish 'individual Ministerial rosponsib lity. Under'a system of the House electing Ministers, all the members had.a choice in tho!elect-ion. Now practically' .no one but tho Prime Minister a say. An elective Executive would . enable measures to be' considered on their merits, and members would speak honestly, without consideration of party. At present it was considered. disloyal for a member to hold out against a party measure. There would be no sinking of Ministerial convictions if Ministers were chosen by, the House' for a definite period. There was also tho. question -of votes of no-confidence,'

which used up valuable time. They also hoard a- great deal, under party" government, of pledge-breaking. By his proposals that would bo dono "away with. In bringing about a. reform as suggested in his Bill, it did not follow that there would bo 110 party feeling in the country. There might be half a dozen parties, but in Parliament tho majority would rule, without party consideration. Looking at the question from a business -point of view, and a national point of view, there could, ho urged, be no excuse for -, iliem not bringing in a reform of the party system. If the liconsing question, Biblereading question, education, and fence questions were not made party questions, affecting as thoy did tho whole country, why were not all matters treated the same? Party rulo, he added, was a sham. Mr. Hanan went on to outline the provisions of his Bill. He directed-par-ticular attention to Clause 12, which was.to the effect that no Executive or Minister _ should recommend the Governor to dissolvo Parliament without the consent of. the House being expressed. Mr. H. G. ELL (Qhristchurch South) favoured the elective Executive, but at the same time recognised that while tho party , systom existed it was necessary for members to conform to it. It would be 'far better, he said, if every member camo to tho House with an unfettered right to cast his vote as he thought best. Mr. R. M'CALLUM (Wairau) failed to see that any advance would bo made by adoptiilg the Bill. The memherwas evidently aiming at some condition halfway between the Parliament of to-day and tho London County Council system. • Mr. G. J. ANDERSON (Mateura) said that whether the Bill was passed or not, sooner or later they would havo xo have an increase in tho number of Ministers. There were many objectionable points about party Governm®nt - It rested mainly upon one-man-rule. The principle of the measure beiore them .was absolutely, sound, and, if it- could be referred to a referendum, Parliament would bo forced to -adopt it. Mr. P. C. WEBB (Grey) said that he supported the Bill, but even if it was placed on the Statute - Book it would bo a farce, as tho dominant' party in power would elect a Ministry. . . J-' G. COATES (Kainara): thought that an clectivo Executive would - be tho ideal way to carry on Government. But party politics were established, and tho public was prejudiced in favour of party. The proposals in the Bill were probably too far ahead of the time. The debate was continued by Mr. J. M'Combs (Lyttelton), Mr. A. Harris (Waitemata), Mr. J. .-A. Young (Waikato), who supported tho Bill. The Bill was read a second time- on the voices. '. Tho House rose at 0.12. a.m.