EDUCATION REFORM

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 180, 19 April 1918, Page 6

EDUCATION REFORM

ADDRESSES BY TEACHERS. Addresses were delivered to the Women's Investigation League lust night by membeis of the. New Zen land Educational Institute, as part of the propaganda. work which the institute has been doing ot late. Miss Nicholls presided over the meeting. Mr. W. H. L. Foster was the first speaker, and his remarks were very similar to those he had made before on a similar occasion, llis first complaint was of (lie lack of room in the larger schools, and the herding of too many children into classes too large for the rooms to hold mid too largo for the teachers to deal with. "It is in the interests of the children," he said, "that the. Education Institute ia asking that the staff be so increased that the most that any man or woman should have to teach should be JO. The Minister of Education' has said wo are mad to ask for suieh. a thing, because it means at once finding 300 teachers. But 110 one expected this to be done in the twinkling of an eye. AVe don't ask that it be done next Monday morning. We know it will take time, but we urge that, now is the lime to prepare for the greater war that is goin» to lake place when peace is declared. . . . But Ido say that while we are asking for smaller classes in the interests of the children, the reform is also very badly needed in iho interests of the teachers themselves, in order that they may 1 do their work as teachers well ami in order that they may continue to be valuable servants of the State. They are doing a noble work. Well! let them bo paid a little bit nobly, and let them have a reasonable chaiice of doing their work without injuring their health." Mr. foster spoke of the danger of the interference of churches with education, saying that he feared that the present was a time of peril for thqj education system of this country. The effort to introduce the system called "Bible in schools" had failed, and now the churches were raising schools of their own. But these schools would be class schools, and the inevitable tendency would bo io inculcalo inter-Medal hatred and class prejudices. Once allow this state of things to arise, and there would be an end of an educated democracy; History showed that the interference of the Church in schools was not for the good of the schools, awl this statement was os true of his own church—the Church of England—as of any other. Mr, Haslam spoke of Iho need for offering more inducements to young people to enter the teaching profession. He did not say that the class of people iu the profession was not uood, but it was a fact that' there was a poor response to the frequently-made appeals for pupil teachers and probationers, and that it was very ■ difficult to keep the schools stalled at all. The. reforms which wero being askeil for were absolutely essential now. but if the reforms were to be of much good the teachers also must be efficient. The leq'uirements of the profession were not low, and the work was arduous. Why were the best young prople passing by the profession, and why were so many of the best of them seeking to leave it? The first reason was ihe low salaries offering to people entering the profession, the second reason was the poor 'ewards offering for success in the profession, and the third reason was the low esteem ill which teachtrs were held ; nj the community. The present system of payment was a very irritating one. He hoped for a more general recognition of the value of teachers to the community Mr. Foster, replying to a question, said that he believed in paying teachers' as m°n and women, end j ot as the hold-ers-of certain positions. 7110 tenonshould be able to look forward to a series of increments to a reasonable level, and not be compelled to look for a new position in order to get a ten-pound-a-year rise.