THE EDUCATION CONFERENCE

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2088, 14 January 1908, Page 3

THE EDUCATION CONFERENCE

VI E \YS OF A DELEGATE AT AUCKLAND. CLASSIFICATION AND PROMOTION OF TEACHERS, I'aliing advantage of the presence in Gisborne of Air. U. P. Clarkson, M.A., President of the AVanganui Educational liistituto who’recently attended tho conforonco of tho Now Zealand Institute at Auckland as representative ol' tho AVangnmn brand], a Times reporter obtained some interesting particulars regarding the business transacted The most important topic was that referring to tho promotion of teachers. A commit toe was set up two years ago to deal with the question nr 1 ills report was .submitted to the ai.anal mooting. 'Tbe report proposes to divide New Zealand into our promotion districts. This was ret adopted, but instead four divisions, consisting of ihe University ihstiiets were substituted. The Inslirut-j proposes to have a classified list of all •leaeiier.s in earn distrut. am! • 1. ■o schools boards likewise eiaf-.Hifii.il. Teachers were to be marked m the j following rates: 2U per ,ent of tlio marks would be for literary attainments; 20 per cent for length of serine, ami 60 for efficiency, the latter as gauged by the Inspector. There would be a Board of Classifiers, to consist of an inspector from each

education district included in the pronotion districts. The procedure lor the appoint incut ol teachers was to be the same as obtaining now, except in instances where one toucher iuul considerably more marks than die other applicants. It one possessed 4 ahead of tho olliors lie or she would have to bo appointed, but.il 3 or umler, the process would

be'as now. It is claimed for tho scheme that it would ensure that

no well-qualified teacher would bo passed over. Mr. Marshall's scheme found a great ileal ot support. He was not present himself, but the scheme was considered by tho promotion committee

in Auckland anil they embodied some ot tlio ideas in the adopted scheme, llis scheme, however, was considered. too revolutionary. There was a party among the teachers who took up Air. Marshall's scheme, favoring it considerably and also a scheme drawn up by the Otago teachers. There was one idea, to centralise the system and allow a teacher to bo transferred from one cud of the Dominion to tlio other. This was looked upon as impracticable, as public opinion was not ripe for such a drastic change. it was thought that a man should be paid, not lor

tho position held, but tor efficiency as a teacher, for teachers of country school might work just as hard as headmasters in a town school. _ .Payment should depend on the classification of tlio teacher and be modified by the size of tho school. SALARIES.

Tho question of salaries arose out of that of appointments!, and during the discussion of the promotion scheme very great dissatisfaction was expressed with tlio existing scale of salaries. They had been told tint the Education vote had risen in past years to very large proportions and in this respect the Institute took exception to many items jvliieh wero included in the estimates in file Estimates miller the heading ol education, which should luivo come under other headings. For instance, charges dealing with tho training or cadets, etc., .should be uhargod to the .do fence vote and not to education. The cadets were under the control or the Education Department, but re was not right to bring this item under educaton. It had been said that teachers were in no better position than ten or fifteen years ago. salaries had risen to a certain extent, but -.hi? cost of living had increased more than double the increase of the salaries, so financially, they were in a worse condition. A pupil-teacher was worse paid than a beginner in any other branch !of tho civil service. A committee of Otago teachers was setup' to draw up a statement giving a comparison of the, salaries of teuchrcs with those ( of other branches of the Civil Service and to formulate the wishes ox teachers in the matter ,to be presented to the secretary of the institute to be sent all round the colony and placed before Parliament in time for next session. The reason lor tins was that a great many ol tho ablest teachers were leaving the profession, and this h id been going on for years. An Otago teacher stated that there were about 40 female teachers in the Dunedin Training School for tho current year, and only six males. Four of the latter had already been promised appointments and thus only two were available. 11l former years Otago provided teachers for the Dominion when the profession was comparatively attractive and other trades, not so prosperous as now. It was pointed out tlv.it if the Government desired able teachers, it must pay for them. He mentioned that there were in tlio Dominion a large number, about 25 per cent, of uncertificated teachers at present. They had no training and no certificate whatever and no doubt many were absolutely incompetent; and if the State would not pay for bettor teachers, they would not got them. A few years ago the number of certificated teachers was much less being only about 10 per cent. This shows clearly the direction in which education- is tending at the present time.

SUPERANNUATION. Regarding superannuation, it a]ipears that ihe teachers are unfairly treated in one aspect of tlio question and in which they are not on a level with the other branches of the Civil Service. - The latter receive upon .retiring, a sixtieth of their salary for every year of service, but the teachers only got a hundred and twentieth back for every year of service up to the time that tlio Act camo into forco and sixtieth thereafter. Not only are they treated dilfcrently from those under the Civil Service scheme, but it is a real hardship and deary makes a considerable reduction in the pension. TE AC HER S’ RESIDENCES. Complaints came from .all parts in reference to this subject and the executive was instructed to approach the Minister for-Education, and urge that the residences should be at least on a par with workmen’s homes. At present, they wero inferior and should be raised to this standard. Some districts would not even provide their teacher with a bath! In one case, a teacher refused to perform his duties unless a bath was supplied. This had the desired effect, but they . lion Id not he put to suoli extremes. ~ TECHNICAL EDUCATION. The question of providing for children after leaving primary sdiools was also considered. Ii \v is -licit! that when a pupil leaves a primary school he. should- receive a free place in a technical school or a high school, acording to his future career.