The Globe. FRIDAY, MAY 4, 1877.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 892, 4 May 1877, Page 2

The Globe. FRIDAY, MAY 4, 1877.

A correspoxdunt, signing himself “ Pro Bono Publico,” writes a very sensible letter on the Education question to one of our morning contemporaries. A teachers’ conference, it appears, is to be held here during this month, when points affecting the position of teachers will no doubt be discussed, and recommendations made to the Government. The question of how teachers shall be appointed and dismissed is one which should receive their serious consideration. The system in force in Canterbury is, we think, very unsatisfactory, and wo hope it will not bo adopted in the new Bill about to be introduced by the Government. The power of the local School Committees is to too great, and that of the central authority is too small. In the country districts especially, the local Committees cannot be expected to be competent judges of the qualifications of a schoolmaster. As “ Pro Bono Publico ” truly says, “ The Board through their inspectors are the best judges whether a teacher is doing his duty. If the inspector’s report on the school is satisfactory, and the teacher’s moral character unimpeachable, the Board ought not to allow anyone to attack him.” If a teacher does his duty honestly, without fear or favour, the chances are that he will earn the dislike of some foolish parent, who fancies bis child’s abilities have been overlooked, or his delicate susceptabilities in jured. The life of a country schoolmaster is frequently anything but an agreeable one, from the fact that lie is continually subjected to these petty annoyances. The members of bis Committee have frequently but a dim idea of what education is, and for that reason feel themselves all the more competent to speak with authority on the subject. Of course we should be sorry to say that all districts are alike hi this respect. In our towns and suburban districts the case is very different. Here the Committee are composed of gentlemen who know how to treat their teachers, and the petty interference of the country Committees is entirely unknown. But the exception does but prove the rule. Again, the system prevalent in Canterbury operates against the best men rising to the top of their profession. A man who shows distinguished ability as a teacher should receive promotion as a matter of course. It should not be necessary that he should apply for every vacancy which occurs, in order to better his position. Under the present system a good teacher may waste his abilities for years in teaching a small country school, from want of opportunity of making bis abilities known to the committees of larger ones. Besides, a man who is anxious to get on may, in his endeavours to better his position, find himself out of a situation altogether. He may apply for a larger school and fail, and by that act obtain the dislike of his present employers. The power of appointing teachers should rest with the central authority, who should also be able, if they thought fit, to promote teachers according to their ability from school to school. Were that the case there would be more incentive to the teacher than there is, to improve himself. When the new Education Bill is introduced we see no reason why teachers should not be made members of the Civil Service. Their duties are far more important than those of any other public department of the State, and the ability demanded far greater. NTew Zealand ought to recognise this fact, and seek by' every means in her power to attract the best ability of the country into the ranks of her common school-teachers. This can only be done by making the tenure of office depend on good conduct and competence, and offering every inducement to men of ability to join the rank of teachers.

Ijr the present juncture of hiuropean affairs, and when Great Britain may at any moment he entangled in a great war, it is satisfactory to us colonists to feel that the management of the affairs of the Empire is in the hands of a party who recognise that the colonies are an integral part of her Majesty s dominions. Had the Manchester school been at the head of affairs, we would most likely have been left entirely to our own resources. That this is still the vieAV which that party holds, is evident from some remarks of their organ, the Spectator. In an article on the warlike resources of Russia that journal, after pointing _ out the development of the Russian navy, and affirming that the force is not used so as to have any great effect upon the issues of a European war, our contemporary goes on to say that “the beet is to a great extent employed in hovering about the mouth of the’ Amoor and the coast of

the far East, where it could do nothing except worn/ Australia —a proceeding which, in a war with England, would be equivalent to the Chinese practice of making faces at your enemy.” It is in a very different tone that the present Ministry have written to the various Colonial Governors. They encourage us to defend ourselves to the best of our ability, but should we unfortunately be unable to do so in every instance, any levies made upon us will be made good by the Imperial Government.