A REPUDIATED CHARGE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 158, 23 March 1918, Page 7

A REPUDIATED CHARGE

THE'MINISTER AND THE'"""' .'teachers; .. -' Speaking at last night's'meeting held under .the auspices of the New Zealand Educational'' 'Institute for - the purpose of discussing certain weaknesses of'the educational "system, M,r.' -Foster said that the teaching profession had as a body been the target of criticism, and one of.the .latest .to, throw stones at the profession' was the Minister of Education. Speaking'for himself as, an old teacher, he had felt that criticism, arid he did not kiimv whether the Min■•ister had .formed ; his opinion from,-his own observatipris 'or. from the reports, of the inspectors He had , searched, these" reports ' for anything that.- could : h'ave^! given the . Minister grounds for his statements, but he had not been able ,to farid anything.. to .justify .the.'.Minister,, in. saying ;at.'the opening of the Iferori 'School recently that, the teachers if; the. public schools did not observe first principles'and that they' scampered'/through their; work.' As he could.(iii'd nothing in-the inspectors' reports that gave rise to'the Minister's expressions, concluded/ that tho statements were , the result of his ob- ' servations.''. He considered that they were made from surface "observations only, and'.;'that, the . Minister had'not ' fjone. deeply into the reasons wliy teach- ; ers "scampered, through their work and failed to observe first principles." Speaking from an experience of the. teaching professipn that extended overforty years, Mr. Foster considered .that, the teaching profession 'was' one of ;the-.most industrious and conscientious bodies that;'.the ;State and if tha''State ha'dldqne"itsfduty ..by. it. in .the 'past, .jh'ey Would "have, been- even, more conscientious, and' painstaking, even enthusiastic, in regard to their work. One of his greatest professional pleasures was the .fact that over and over agatin.he had come across teachers' ..whose work, had been a delight to him. A's.a .matter.'.of fact,, the inspectors had again and again', congratulated the board upon , the morale of the teaching That being the case, he failed to see why the Minister should have said that the profession had scampored through its work and failed to observe first principles.