TEACHERS' CONGRESS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 85, 3 January 1918, Page 8

TEACHERS' CONGRESS

ANNUAL MEETING OF INSTITUTE DiiLiiGATES THE PROFESSION AND THE SCHOOLS Hie New Zealand Educational Institute opened its thirty-iifth anuu.il conference yesterday in the .Masonic Ball m Boulcott Street. The presidorit, Air. L. T De Berry, M.A. (hokitika), was unable through illness to be present. Mr. 'W. Endey (Dunedin) therefore occupied the chair. There were j;vtsent delegates from about 21 districts. The Mayor of Wellington, Jlr. J. Luke, C.M.G., opened the proceedings with a short speech. He said that inroads were being made into national education at the present time. There was upon the platform the .Moderator of tho great Presbyterian Church. That Church was instituting schools because it thought that Biblical teaching siiuuld be given the children. The .Anglican Church was acting similarly, and the Roman Catholic Church had hid its educational system for many years past. In his opinion it .vould not be in tlio best interests of the Dominion that the educational system should bo split up into small units. (Applause.) It was a disgrace to iho country that tha technical schools did not to "day stand in a stronger position. It would be an excellent thing if the meeting could by its suggestions to the Government lay the foundation of a scheme for proper vocational training. Tho work of the conference nas a great one, and he hoped that 'n the future tha conference would have greater privileges j than at present. j

; Meticulous Tinkering. Mr. F. H. Bakewell, M.A., Senior Inspector for the Wellington district, also addressed the conference Ho did not agree, he said, with those who considered that in the future an oxtia responsibility due to tho war would be cast upon the men and women engaged in teaching the young. He believed that that responsibility was upon tho teachers now; Meticulous tinkering with the syllabus of education would 'not meet the new requirements. What was needed was a complete change of attitude on the part ot tho public. Tho public must not withhold from the teachers tho straw they needed for tbfcir brick-making. Increased accommodation and staffing were the most important requirements at present. 'i'iie Hon. J. G. W. Aitkeu, M.L.C., as chairman of tho Wellington Education Board, expressed the board's appreciation of tne work that Wellington teachers had done during the year. He welcomed the delegates to the district. A paper prepared by the executive took tho place of a presidential address. The conference reaffirmed a number of former resolutions upon various questions and proposals.

Election of Education Boards. Mr J. E. Purchase, M.A. (North Canterbury), moved the remit: "That the present method of electing education hoards is unsatisfactory." He said that the first alteration should consist in the widening of the franchise, hi Christchurch four members were elected by 108 persons—by only 108 out of the total population of Cliristcinirch. There was the greatest difficulty insetting some very desirable men elected under the present conditions. Mr. F. T. Evans, who seconded, said that what was wanted was something botween the political franchise and the present narrow system. The remit was carried. Promotion of Teachers. Mr. N. 1:1. S. Law (Auckland) moved: "That the Dominion should bo divided into four promotion areas.'' Tito said that tho basis of promotion should be the Dominion grading list, when it had been purged of its anomalies. Tho principle of the remit, if put into practice, would not mean the abolition of district education boards. Tim promotion districts might he: Auckland and Taranaki, with 77!) schools, including 84 of Grade IV and upwards; Hawke's Bay, Wangauui, Wellington, Marlborough, and Nelson, with 715 schools, including 102 of Grade IV and upwards; Canterbury, Westlaud, and Grey, with 385 schools, including 52 of Grade IV and upwards; Otago and Southland, with 342 schools, including 65 of Grade IV and upwards. Mr. Law gave an alternative arrangement of districts also. • Mr. A. J. C. Hall (Auckland ) s?id that tho only alternative principle to the one proposed :u the remit was centralisation and a Dominion scheme. Personally lie thought that centralismtion was not desirable. After a fair amount of discussion the conference negatived the remit.

Other Matters. Tho conference carried the Mowing remits: — "That the attention of the Minister be drawn to the fact that our present machinery does not ensure the satisfactory carrying out of tthe compulsory clauses of the Education Act, in that there is a considerable leakage of chil<kw; wwki iourteeTY para ot a&o who fatf to 'attend schod. ' "That the Education Department be urged to amour! the regulations ro travelling, in the direction of providing for payments for travelling of children who ride to school, and of proficiency holders travelling to district high schools." "That in all matters dealt with by the Public Superannuation Act, teachers be placed on the same footing as other Government services." "That mombers who rejoined tho service after 1908 be placed on the same footing au legards superannuation as wore university professors in 1912." "That in view of the importance of education as a leading factor in raising the level of national efficiency and character, and the consequent necessity of securing, in tho first instance, the best women and men for the teaching service, it is imperative that steps be taken to establish for teachers a greatly improved scale of remuneration."—(Carried by 38 votes to 27 on a division.) "That the N.'Z.E.I. should be granted the privilege of reviewing the draft of proposed legislation and regulations dealing with education before tho promulgation of the same." "That the principle of the inclusion of quota marks in the grading of teachers be disapproved of, and that a strong demand be made for its abolition. It was pointed out by one delegate that the sufferer under the system objected to was tho country teacher, wno, unless he went'elsewhere, was debarred by thirty marks' from ever attaining to the highest grading.