THE COUNTRY TEACHER

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 204, 23 May 1919, Page 9

THE COUNTRY TEACHER

WHERE IS SHE TO COME FROM?

A DIFFICULT PROBLEM

A grave problem that stares every education bonnl in the country in the fiee is the growing difficulty that is being experienced of getting school teachers to 'take up appointments in rural districts. The point, which has been raised in connection with the Taitft School— only eleven tniles from Wellington—l> one which must exercise the minds of everyone in the least degree concerned about tho'education of children in tlio country. The matter was brought under the attention of tbo chairman of the Wellington Education Board (Mr. Forsyth) yesterday in tlio belief that the problem ot supplying suburban schools such as Taita was merely a passing one, but Jlr. 1-or-syth disillusionised our representative on that point, and emphasised the serious Mlnre of the, whole question of the supply of teachers in the country. In the case of Taita, he said, the trouble was that though the glace was so near the city the teacher could not very well reside in town owing to the train arrangements not permitting, so it was, to all intents and purposes, a country school. If they could, in such eases, reside, in to-t-n with the object of otlcndinjr training classes or the university, the travelling would take a great deal of time, morning and evening, and not a little of their monev. "Our difficulty all the time," said Mr. Forsyth, "is to get any sort of teacher fo;- the small country schools. The tendency with all teachers is to gravitate towards the cities, where life is more attractive and tlio means of improving one's educational standing jire'-better. Aw: that is only. natural seeing _ that the salaries are the same. That is to say, a teacher of one grade at the Clyde Quay School may get £W> a year. If placet! in some country school the salary wouli! bo the same. So what is-the result? For every vacancy in the staff of- a cily school we may have., from twenty to thirty applicants who thiiik they have a chance, whilst for a vacancy m ft country school we may not. have a 6inglo ::i>plicant, and are forced to readvertiso tiie ■vacancy. . . . -.- "The men simply won't go to country schools, 60 we have to rely on securing lady teachers, and that a-jain makes for complications. Life in the city or in a large provincial town is naturally much brighter and more attractive to young Indies than life in the country, yet it is the young people we must look to, as older people, probably with greater responsibilities, cannot cccept tho salary offered. .-Then'having secured a suitable lady teacher, (he trouble does not end. Everywhere in tho α-untry they are experiencing the utmost difficulty, in securing board and lodging, and if it is available Hie rate is pretty high for- a young teacher. At other times they may be taken into a hono on sufferance, under which conditions life cannot be said to be ns pleasant -ns) it might be. Of course (hero are 6omo country schools where the conditions are excellent, and for vacancies at such schools tbero are always applications, in plenty.

"Local conditions soon become l;i:owii amonp;' the tonchersr and tlieir luimvk-dgo is rellectod' in tlio lists of implications which coii:o bpfore Hid board ;.t every meptinp:. There was, for instance, a particularly long list to occupy Hie attention of the board at Wednesday's mootiiiß. Tlio stale of things cmi be seen from a glance at the list. There, wore, vacancies to (ill at several of.thn 'city schools. Here are the number of applicants:—lsland ')%, 19; l tClydo Quay. 9; South Wellington. 13; Ilroolilyn, 7; Clyde Quay, 21; Roseneath, IS. 'l'al;e the Kosenehtli vacancy, wherethere were thirteen applications for .'. position. worth from JCI4O to ,£IOO per year. For a country vacancy coniman'dini; Ihu snnm Biliary there were no applications at all. For several positions oqmmnndii)'; salaries from .Cl3O to .C2OO (with. h'oni jE2(I to .£3O liouse allowance),' there were one or two implications from people with from three to four years' experience—practically in the pujiil teacher stage—either without certificates or with only a partial D. Fnr- one vacancy (.£l.lO to £W a year, with o£2o houso allowance),! there was one applicant, with only throe months' experienco and no certificate at nil. Out of the total list, applications were either noii-oxistcnt or so unsntisfaclory that eleven vacancies have to be readvertiscd. Bad and all is it b in (lie Wellington district, the situation is even worse in JJarlhoroiigh, where the majority of- the schools aro one-teachei , schools, n. good deal move rpmoli) from centres of population than i.s the case over here.

"The only remedy I can see for tho existing slate ofall'airs is to offer fldditional monetary inducement 1,0 teachers in remote rural schools. Why, there is oiio case of a school which has been in existence for a number of y«irs on the Wellington-Waira'rapa lino for which the board cannot secure a teacher, and the-suggestion has been madn by the inspector that the school be closed - down altogether and 1 arrangements made to convey the children by train to the, two nearest schools on the railway line. That school has been conducted recently by a man without any certificate at all, I quite realise thai such conditions are unsatisfactory, but what are wo to do? You can't force people to go into the country. The only way is to offer some additional inducement, to takn vp finch work as roinnensntion for what they miss by not being in a city.".