SCHOOL COMMITTEES

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 77, 28 September 1933, Page 4

SCHOOL COMMITTEES

NATIONAL FEDERATION

FORMATION APPROVED

The formation' of a. national body to bo known.'as the Dominion Federation of School Committeos' Associations was practically, decided upon at yesterday's conference., of school committee delegates, Points in connection with . thu constitution ot! the proposed, organisation' were discussed at length. "Thejnain features of* the'constitution'.finally .agreed to were:—All school' cd'mnuttees' associations affiliated with tho Dominion Federation will be entitled to send a, delegate to the annual, conference of the federation. Those associations Avith forty or more affiliated school committees will bo entitled to two delegates, and those with under forty, one. Affiliation fees payable by larger associations to the fede-ration-were, fixed at £3 3s annually, and those of the smaller associations at £2 2s. A central executive, to be elected by the conference, will function during tho year in a city to be decided upon later. The annual conference of the association will be held in. August of each year in the North and South Islands alternately. Provision was made for the formation of a travelling expenses fund on the basis of 2s from each school committee attached'to one of the1 affiliated associations. Tho constitution was approved, but the moving of a formal motion declaring "the conference a Dominion federation was held over to enable the Canterbury delegates, who were not ompowered to vote on the motion and whoso association could not immediately be affiliated to the federation, to take part in the deliberations of the conference. On the motion of the South Taranaki delegates, the conference recorded its objection to the establishment of interr mediate seho'ols.1.. A remit from Auckland expressing the opinion that the intermediate .course of two years was not in the best interests of the chud was also carried. ~ . A telegram, was received from tae Nelson, association asking that a suitable person should be: appointed to represent it at the "conference, and Mr. N. A. Ingram, secretary of the conierencej was appointed. SIZE OF CLASSES. In moving that the conference should demand ja • limit of thirty-five pupils in anyone class, and that any in excess of that number should be drafted to an auixilary class, Mr. P. 11. Parker (South Taranaki) . said .that the need for a reduction in tho size ot classes was essential. If the conference could iufluenco the Minister of Education to make reductions m cases where it was necessary, it would mean not bnly'-an improvement in the standard of education, but" a decrease in the number-of unemployed teachers. > 'Mr. C. H. Pinnock. (Wellington), in/ seconding the motion, said .he felt that in tlie'iai-g^r;classes the children could not be'taught properly, for they could not be'taught on-mass production lines. The large classes: simply meant that a dull boy' or girl-was overlooked. The-motion was carried with the addition of the words "a roll number of thirty-five pupils." ~,.,, A Wellington remit urging that the deficiency in tho education system caused by the withdrawal' of kindergarten subsidies and the exclusion of five-year-old children from the schools should be repaired at ,the earliest moment by the institution of a kindergarten department at each, primary school where;children of kindergarten age"'might attend voluntarily, was moved by Mr. Pinnoek. Mr.- Pinnock said that while they realised that there ifee're iiiany difficulties in the way, one, of■ebui-se, being finance, they-thought that each school should have tho facilities'of. a kindergarten, i The child starting in a!kindergarten department of a primary.schooT'would get use,d to the school, th«.',vicinity, and the childr reri it played with".''"~~__ ~~~~~~.~S~I - ■: One, of thefTa~fanafcr"delegates (Mr. .Parker) said; that' his association was Opposed to the remifi, as it was -ctM-' side.red that :it ..might.,interfere with, the effect of another motion'.'wlucH. .urged, that tho entrance age for child".: reiv to the primary schools should bo r^inistated at fire years. Mr. Parker

was of. the opinion that'if the Wellington remit was put forward as well, they would fall botween the two. Mr. W.. H. Steele (Otago): Where are you going to start the primary classes and where aro you going to end them? If we are going to ask for all sorts of expenditure on the kindergarten classes, we will have to lose it higher up. Should we put silly resolutions before the Government? I say no. Every resolution that we send up ought to be sensible. The remit was carried. . AGE OF ADMISSION. A.'.South Canterbury remit urging a wider, development of district high schools in the rural and semi-rural areas was carried; In support of a motion moved by Mr. Parker urging that a strong appeal should be made for a. return to tho optional five-year-old school admission age, Mr. Ingram said that ho thought the remit in regard to the kindergartens was idealistic at present. Bur. what were they going to do with the five-year-olds arid what was to become of the teachers who had become unemployed through the raising of the school age'? He was of the opinion that they should make a definite appeal to the Minister to reconsider his decision. When the discussion was resumod today Mr. F. W. Ongley said he did not think it was any answer for the Minister to say that when they had had the five-year-olds last time they were taught the wrong way, and therefore they were not going to take them again. Mr, A. E. Lawrence said they should have combined the kindergarten resolution and the present resolution. It was decided to recommit the motion, and a committee was set up to bring down a suitable resolution combining tho two.