BOARD OF EDUCATION.

Globe, Volume XX, Issue 1393, 2 August 1878, Page 3

BOARD OF EDUCATION.

The Board of Education for the district of North Canterbury hold their usual fortnightly meeting yesterday at 3 p.m. Present —Messrs J. Inglis (chairman), Tancred, and Duncan. The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed. APPOINTMENTS. The following appointments were confirmed:— Malvern —Miss A. J. Sully, Mistress ; Christchurch East—Miss Mary Emsley, pupil teacher ; Loburn— Mr Peat, master, Mrs Peat, rewing mis-ress, Miss Ada Hodgson, pupil teacher ; Wcodon —Miss Joanna Gow, in stress; Leeston — Miss M. D. Wilson, assistant mistress ; Greeudalc Mrs Simpson, mispress; Lincoln — Miss Mary A. Gordon, mistress. DEPUTATION FROM WAINUI. A deputation from the Wainui achsol committee waited on the Board for the purpose of explaining cc' tain reasons for their disapproval of the action of the Board with regard to the school. The Board agreed to reconsider the matters in question before their nest sitting. INSPECTOR’S REPORT. The inspector reported on the following schools:—Hoathcote Valley, Gust, Mount Grey Downs, Ashley Bank, Malvern, Flaxton, and Kangiora. THE NORMAL SCHOOL. A letter was read from the West Christchurch school co nmitteo, enclosing all correspondence hetvvcmsolves. the Minister of 1 duration, and the Board relative to the Normal School, and containing a memorandum setting forth the views of the committee. The Board was requested to lay the whole of the correspondence before the Mini.-ter of Education. The Board agreed to comply with the request. LYTTELTON SCHOOL SALARIES. bn reply to an application from the Lyttelton school committee respect ng the appoint r ent of an assist mt mistress, t’ e Boird con-idered the scale of sa ari'-s received by the teaching staff, and resolved that if Miss Chambers remains in the position of a pupil teacher her salary was to he AMO per annum, but if she takes the position of assistant mistress her salary was to be raised to =£so per annum. EAST CHRISTCHURCH. The secretary was instructed to send the following reply to the h ast ‘ hristclmr li school co omittee, in answer to the matters brought before them by the deputation ut the last meeting of the Board : E. C. J Stevens, Esq. Sir, —I have the honor by the direction of the Board to address the following reply to yourself and the other gentlemen who attended with you as a deputation from the East Christchurch committee. The committee are understood to complain that under the present system they have no room for the exercise of their discretionary power in the management of educational affairs within their district. They refer to several instances in which the Board has not been able to give effect to their recommendations, in consequence of which they are of opinion that they have been placed in an embarrassing position, and that the efficiency of the sch ol has been impaired. The remedy they suggest lies in the introduction of an entirely different system. They propose, as the Board understands, that for the future the whole amount agreed upon between the Board and the committee as sufficient for the requirements of the district during the year shall he placed in their hands, to ho appropriated as they think fit, without reference to any general scheme, or to any regulations by which the Board may be guided in the distribution of its funds elsewhere. The Board does not wish to engage in a controversial discussion, and abstains from remarking in detail on tbo particular cases cited. That the committee did not obtain the sum required for the enforcement of the compulsory clauses was owing, as was explained at the time, to the fact that the Board was not possessed of the necessary funds; No provision has been made for such expenses. The Board has no means at its command beyond the statutory allowance it receives from the Colonial Treasury. That allowance is entirely absorbed by the ordinary expenditure for the maintenance of schools, and till the amount is increased it will bo impossible that any part of it can bo spared for other purposes. The case of Mr Exall is hardly relevant to the present subject. It wns’a question, not of the expenditure of money, but of the exercise of the authority vested in tho Board. The 47th section of the Education Act empowers tho Board to summarily dismiss any teacher for immoral conduct or gross misbehaviour. In this instance the committee did not recommend the teacher’s dismissal on tho ground of gross misbehaviour, and tho Board did not think it advisable to assume the responsibility of summarily dismissing him npon the evidence laid before if. With respect to the teachers’ salaries, the Board has, alter much careful deliberation, adopted a scheme under which the funds at its disposal may be equitably divided amongst the schools throughout the district. Some alterations have been made, and many anomalies which have arisen during past years will be removed when an opportunity offers. But the Board is anxious to briug all the schools under the operation of tho scnle. In the case of the infant mistress, on which some stress was laid, regard must be had to the professional standing and qualification of tho teachers referred to. The committee have already been informed that whenever the present mistress attains to an equality with her predecessor iu those respects, she will bo entitled to, and will receive, the same salary. The system proposed by the committee involves changes of too great a magnitude to bo adopted lightly. If carried to its full extent, it would confer on East Christchurch a complete financial and administrative independence. This can ho accomplished only by tho action of the Legislature. By the law as it stands, the general supervision and control f educational matters, the administration of tho funds supplied by the Education Department, and the appointment and removal of teachers, are vested in the Board, which is not at liberty to divest itself of, or to delegate to others, the duties and responsibilities thus imposed upon it. Even iu a modified form as applied to tho regulation of sa aries only, tho course recommended is attended with grave difficulties. For on the one hand tho principle, once established, could hardly bo confined tea single district. There are other committees in charge of important schools who would claim a similar freedom, and whoso title to consideration could not be disputed The Board would thus to a very groat extent abdicate its functions by becoming a mere distributing body—a position certainly not contemplated by the Education Act, and not consistent with its provisions. Or, on the other hand, if East Christchurch is to he exceptionally treated, the distinction thus drawn iu favour of the one district could not fail to bo n source of extreme dissatisfaction to the managers

of other large town and suburban schools, who would not be content with an arrangement which singled out one committee for the enjoyment of privileges denied to the rest, and enabled it to attract any teachers whose services were found valuable by the inducement of salaries which all bnt itself wore debarred from offering The Hoard desires to remind the committee that its duty obliges it to see that every part of the district under its charge receives a fair share of the public funds. It has many interests to consider, and needs great care in the apportionment of its revenue, so as to deal justly wi h the claims of all. ir. is impossible always, however much the Board liny wish to do so, to meet the wishes of every committee, and sometimes even requests reasonable in themselves, and such as, if the circumstances of the particular locality only were to be regarded, the Board would willingly grant, must of necessity be refused. With regard to the present proposal, the Board regrets that it c ;nnot see its way to so great a change in the general system of administration as that proposed by your committee. I have the honour to be, sir, Your obedient servant, J. V. Coi.borne-Vf.el, Secretary. RESIGNATION OF MEMBER The following letter was read from Mr W. Eolleston, resigning his position as a member of the North Canterbury Educational Board : I have the honor to forward to yon my resignation of my position ns member of the Education Board for North Canterbury. Ido so with mnch regret, but ns I am now going to Wellington to the session of the General Assembly, and on my return shall probably reside so far from Christchurch as to make it impossible for me to attend the sittings of the Board, I think it ri /ht at once to resign. INCIDENTAL EXPENSES. The following grants wore made for incidental expon-os : -LyDe’ton school, .£100; Wc-t Cliri teharch school, .£IOO ; Kaiapoi school, .£SO; St. Albans school £SO. TEMPORARY APPOINTMENT, Miss Page was temporarily appointed to fill the vacancy creat' d at the Normal -ehool by the absence of Miss S’eager. through illness. NEW DISTRICT. The boundaries of the North Lohurn district were defined and agrei d to. KAIAPOI. An application was made from Mr John Vfathews respecting his retiring allowance. The Board had some time past recommended the matter to the Government, and now undertook to make another application. This concluded the business, and the Board adjourned at 7 p.m.