EDUCATION REFORM

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 276, 18 August 1919, Page 8

EDUCATION REFORM

TEACHERS AND THE MINISTER

ANOTHER INTERVIEW

;'THE:CASE FOR NATIONAL CONTROL

Tne New Zealand Educational Institute, represented by Mr.. H. A. Parkin- ' son, had a further' interview on fc>a.tuiday with the Hon. J. A. Hanap. Mjnistec of Education, in reference to nmt■ta connected with educational fefo'rm. '■■ Mv:' Parkinson impressed, '.upon tjie 1 'Minister tho needs o{.the eduoahon sys- " tern. "As the session' of Parliament, ap"jttoaohes," he gaid, "the Educational In- ' stitute" desires qgdin to put before you, ■■ and before Cabinet, the urgenby of tho need for. educational -via , the opinion.of tho. institute: It'■lβ a,matter :':oi 'firatvinipartaauo to the nutioii that ■'Jks education system bo so "iuiptovedand ••eitteuM us to enable it to perform its ''great funotion in building , up the mition of (lie fftturej and i&js opinion is supported .1$ resolutions from many : different; bodies. of citizen*! totoilahoftt 'the; Dominion. Tho. owrdinatioa or the : different sections of. flohopl work; the re* fam of tho teinJnati'ttilve mabhiaejyj As extension of tho selttol ogej the w> , itiatlon at a wmpvejiensivg System of continuation ctotaj tho provision of suitable school buildings ujid snilieieut playing egaees; the inercaslag ■ the eii-pngt.ii and improvtns the quality' of ' tho taking iitaii—ell , these are matters that law iov TteatiriQnt witnout delay, .'liisse a&d, other reforms aie urgently needed, and if their initiation Iβ further dnuiy«& it fill ho a civuse of, deop da«£tjuoinEi]ieab''; "but I can aesuro youi tluit tua institute ylll not reins' its efforts, and that it will tferserere until it aeer) the odaioixtiou system mn.de womy oi the- funotion it haa to perform, Urgent Matters, "TAraq o»>,' lMW§V°i' 4 tiv.U iisyeetg ef iUss edu&Uea me m&mu&t at' mi<sk Mil M\ bmk M'fe £iest£Qß@- ■ mfenli, Thm m emMi up ib tbe Avßi-ds eeufesoi aad ealui'ia of m teaoi* iusf,ekS. 'i'Jife preaeai djstesi ol uputtet liflK tte teftctlug ■ stntt is eatu'gjy VraHg, ana toe efcauM ta no i'ui'to liyjji-; tiutea.' about i«ji«kuuk it. SM Soaiiu» ion la divided iuto niue edueutiou uui= toots, k mix .of whiok Iβ si board tea« ,troUißs its ewn-tehing »\ai ! . JJos re> '•suit is had from.'every pomi; ot \iw.\ :1c- is kd fpv tab , ppils, tmu to the •■■ teachers, had tyi the fstiito.'for the iollowiai; reasons' It roas the staff ot its, adaptability. Tho education distiiots era for all ptaotiwil purposos closaa 'areas—teaohera' in oho , aro priiotioally ' parted from, appointment in anothet, there is no infusion of u6vr Wood from outside, the avenue of pwlnotion is toi» loired and in some respeots oloaed "altogether, -whioii depresses energy and kllle 'enthusiasm, .'xhe system' piwents the ■'making of the.^esh-use of ' teaching I ■power, -since teaohers cannot 1»' employ- j ed in '.that Qhiss of , wovk ■ ior ■ whioh -.they are best adapted, hence the. lose to the State of a considerable proportion of the. possible return for*ite expendi.ture, "Tliesvstem, 'moreover; is wasteful in the. extrane. • :; "■' •' ■•; ■'•

- "The provincialism of the service ako '-lenders it unattractive to recruits of the ■ "right thus reaots ou the stand- '■ ant.-'of teaching. ' Having regard to the Vi . restricted field of promotion, to the nun-■■■ber;of--masters to whom a teacher, is. sub•ni.ject, and to the comparative advantages '■' offered' by the wider scope of 'the other national services, the parents of the most .-''.promising young people are unwilling- to them, in the service. But the 1 most obnoxious feature of' the present system' is its flagrant injustice. --'■.•■"In: any..service the staff must-feel, if it is to do ite best-work, that faithfulness, and merit will ensure promotion in due time, but that has not Been, and is not 'now, the experience of the teaching service. ■ ■ It can be asserted with emphasis that education boards are not on the whole "composed of men who ore capable of administering such a highly technical professional service, as that of -. the teacher. Hence we have, instead of ~ a national service t in which merit should ■be the passport 'to advancement, _ a group of provisions in whioh ap'point- ., mentis, are made on ao definable prin-.....ciple-rexcept 'that of exclusion already referred to—and in which promotion de- > pends . less on merit, and justice than /-on personal considerations and , pure lubk, Only a single controlling authority can eo adjust the teaching power of the -work it has to do as to give at once - the best ■return in service to the State •-and'tho best assurance to the teachers that merit.'.sliall meet ite leward. •' Poor Salaries. '

"I come now," said Mr. Parkinson, "to ■ the related subject of teachers' salaries, with which this question of control is closely connected. The institute niaies .no apology tor claiming that, in common Tvith "all .the other peopje of the p> '. aninion,' '.teachers must receive more -■ adequate their services. •IJven if no more were required than to retain, the present etaff an inorease would he essential; but if the youth of this .'Dominion is to receive the education that is its due a greatly strengthened amh improved . staff must be provided. -. The only way to obtain it is to make the ..•/■service sufficiently attractive to the oloss .',of young people who are. likely to make ■-the' best teaohera, so, that they will-be '■■ , not only to enter the service but i , J to.stay in it. A'very few figures will ; J. show that at present the service has I to offer. Out of 3323! 'certificated teachers, in primary schools | a safe estimate shows that over a thou- | sand, with from twelvo to forty years' i 6ervice, receive .lees than ,£260 in salary. Only about "400 of the whole number of . adult teachers (4707) receive as much as : ' a year—l in 12, Of 2151 assistant teachora 21,118 receive not more than Ul6O. and 1028 of them not moro than '£Ho— many of them have not yet reached ...that figure. Practically all of these 'teachers are fully qualified, many of '"theni.highly qualified, and many of them ,'iSith"! twenty years! service or more. 'iTeiichersas well as" other workers are ' ".entitled"to (i living wage based upon the ' 'standard'of life that their sen-ice re- : quires them to maintain. The wHole range of the service'i3 in need of relief, from inspectors and heads of large schools down to the uncertificated teachers in the back-blocks schools. An increase in salary is esseutiaJ, but it will ' fail of its best' effect if it is not coupled with tho introduction of a unified system of control. Only by allocating- the salary iin accordance with tihe value of the service rendered can satisfaction be assured to the teachers, and tho best return in service secured to the State." ■ The Minister's Reply. In reply, Mr. Hanan said that two strong pleas had been put forward—first, for the nationalising of the system of control of the teaching sen-ice; and, second, for an increase in teachers' salaries. He ' had to admit, as a result of close study of tho question of the appointment and promotion of teachers, that the fact that these- matters were outside central control was open to strong objection, and there was good ground for considering a change. ■With a viow of removing somo of tho abuses that existed under tho system of ■ appointment by education boards,.' he v'ihatl established a grading system, the ob- '■ ject being to 6eoure, as far as possible, the recognition of merit in the appointments of teachers. Whilo ho did not contend that the grading system was in all respects perfect, yet it waa a decided forward step in a very desirable direction, and tended towards semiring better efficiency in the service. "When ho ■pas dea ing with increase of salaries . he could not overlook tho fact that .■when increases had been given in the past, all had benefited to the same extent, the efficient and inefficient alike. He wan as anxious as anyone to see efficient teachers receiving salaries com- - mensurato with their duties and responsibilities, and a point to bo considered was what system would be adopted to :. insure, that tho increase in salary should bo made to accord with the efficiency of recipients. Ho was anxious also to have such salaries as would attract tho best teaching material. He ■was desirous of not only, maintaining but improving, tho standard of educational •• efficiency of the teachers. Every effort should be made to improve- and " extend public education, inasmuoh as .-• it ; was the only universal agency for • the. /perpetuation and , development of ■ • the highest ideals of tho democratic society of to-day and its continuance in dintara ffenAmuojis. With changing 60-

cinl and industrial conditions new demands were made upon the schools. The complaint about inadequate salaries paid to teachers was world-wide; and in all progressive countries they were working for better public schools, and as a necessary increases of salaries of teachers were being askod for. 'You may have," said Mr. Hanon, "a good school in a bad building, with a good teacher, but you cannot have a good school, oven in a good building, with a bad teacher." When the question of teachers' salaries in all branches was under consideration he hoped to be in a position to placo all aspects of the two main questions, control and salaries, feeforo Cabinet shortly. Opposed to Local Taxation, Referring to centralisation, Mr. Hanan said that, having regard to the large sums of money that were appropriated by Parliament for educational purposes, the question arose whether the State could reduce its control over expenditure of mica moneys.' With the exception of JJew Zealand and Australia, moneys for educational requirements were mainly Taised by means'of local taxation, the funds so raised by a locality or district being subsidised or assisted by State contributions. In New Zealand there was, practically speaking, no local taxation to raise funds to meet tlio educational needs of a district or locality; thus the boards of education were mere spending authorities of moneys obtained from Government. He was strongly opposed to local taxation. It would bo a mistaken policy to adopt such a change. Education was a State function, and the money should be found by the State. When this was done there was a wider distribution of education facilities, especially in rural districts. As a matter of fact, 6aid the Minister, any person who read the reports of other countries' and general educational literature must recognise that the tendency was not in favour of decentralisation and local taxation, but was in the direction of a growing appreciation of State responsibility and a demand for State supervision. By this he meant a State supervision which would allow full play to local interests and initiative, What he was anxious to do was to co-ordinate the different services into one unified, and efficient -whole. He spoke of improvements effected, and said that, provision had been made for the increased teaohers salaries. He felt sure that tho Government was desirous of Temoving, as far as possible, all reasonable grievances. Unlike railway and public service employees, teachers, though their salaries were paid by the State, were not appointed by or under the control of the "State. They were the employees' of the local governing boards. The schemes for industrial, commercial, and. agricultural development and nation-building depended upon the intelligence and character of the people. On the children of to-day, who soon would reach manhood and womanhood, would fall increased obligations by reason of the altered conditions and problems that they would have to face. All the facts pointed to the need of giving young people an efficient education. This was their Tight, and to do it it was necessary to ■. have the best educational facilities, the outstanding feature being teaohers, guidere, and helpers of the highest skill and best character animated by the loftiest ideate.