The Manawatu Times. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1879.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 29, 12 February 1879, Page 2

The Manawatu Times. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1879.

It is pr.etty well agreed upon all sides that;the next Session of Parliament will not be one of long duration, and that a dissolution will take place -at an early stage.ofits existence; A straw serves tb ittow Vhi;«-*b waythe wind blpws, and judging from ; the signs of .the times, there is every likelihood of the very important matter of education -being made the test- point for the election or rejection" of candidates': -The present Education Act has proved itself to be a gigantic failure^ and it. is now self-evident that jeven if Secularism is still to remain the law of the laml. the administrative clauses will require to be, very materially remodelled.' Various dofects have fro;n time to time been pointed put in ...the machinery of the Act j but in no instance have they been so glaring as in tbejnatter of remuneration to teachers. Under the sci^le at present in force in the Wanganui district the obtaining of raasters for the smaller schools is almost a matter of impossibility, as acceptance of the position means little better than . positive starvation to tlie unforfuna to .teacher. Take for instance, the caise of the Matarawa school with ita average number of twenty, s'oho.lars. and we find tlie lucky master, burdened p^rliap^ with; a wife and four or five children, forced t* subsist and dress iti a respe'cUible manner upon £80— not the wages of a laborer, or s the salkrv of a cadet iu other branches fo the Civil Service. Appeals to the Board have hitherto been unavailing, j the; renaedy.. being, -according to that august body, iu the supplementing of the teacher's, stipend by- the local committee Ple'rVis a gross absurdity and violation of the Act, which is supposed to be free ; while it is at the same time a gross injustice to one section of the community. We are pleased to see that Major NtuKß, the Chairman of the Matarawu Schobl Colninittee i has tiakeu the bull by the!; horjis, and in a manifesto addressed to the Buard puts for-i ward a ; most -^ell-grounded protest against the course adopted. It seems to us tliat the Education Board are somewhat contradictory in -their lan- ■ guage and actions, inasmuch.' as while ; theyVte|.l;,cpmmittees in sp^rsejy.-.popu- :; plaijes, that they liaVGHib funds to; supple.inent teachers' Ralaries, they have' in view the establishment or fliffh; Schools throughout 4ll6 district. •'We: by no means underrate the value, of •tauou;instrtution^ .^est^agairist/^thciKißS^bUshment.wWlei thp.pri'inai^y.'schoor^rare allqweH to languish" and die pf : inanifion". -We holil that it is by no n|eiins a"frJße ',' edu : cation wh'en;resid.en6s are made- "to contribute to the general revenue of. .the Colony, ft'orb^whence tfe grants to education are made, and at the same time put their hands m their purses and supplement those amounts privately. We thoroughly agree with the Chair-i man of the Matarawa Committee when; he asserts it; is impossible a school can! be kept in a state of efficiency when the; •masters are being continually changed,^ and we a»sk, what el«e can be expected than that teachers will but make, a convenience of situations for wliieh the .:re-: niuneratipn^^ is'scarcely^ keep, Uiej^olf froin jtlVe -cloor. Beifore the; Board l had^flpwji at such game as Higlii School^ :it have taken <iafe ta ha've established a sound elementary education -upon a firm basis, to have seen that :the^inaller':sehdpls. were welf proyidad in teaHit'iis aiid requisites) and to make such provision foFthe tcap.her."* as^voulil cause thorn to heart anil sOut into their work., Has this been done? we regret to xay it has not ; arid the impeaolvTiient' of tj^p;.. Wanganiii Board bjr Mnjor NoAfß^mpi culpabW j neglect, : whereby t:he^j^tiaj;ests of' the. ! rural schools 'ha v,<* '.Jbofi\ saenficed, has certainly beDiifi^y^ustained. B-side, w^J(!ok^ip^h.^lie^ppropi'iation of one p«snny;.^!^a]|^ v >\.'^igli\g|.chppl; while a rural school 'Jia.4 not pu|Hciei>t fi»nds to -pay a master's salnry^a^ untenable, ami a jdeliberate contr^qndon pf the A«t. Either one flfc.isrp 'f^nsfi will ba;ye b» : J«eydfljv?fHtl^?t .» 'reirtpdeUini; and readr 3ji^tnient'o| l^|e wJiole^ liave*" to^ take plane, giving greater asßiNtahcfe to country schools v ior i.else ;>thtve«fpur^hii':o|^tKem will have to -be closed- up. '*iri<i \ free; vAvki'SLtiiiri nf : If i'w JSealaiiil i< a m'rpo *&»id'. a* Fraud, 1 ''■ Kow- t'hviiheujbers of the ■B»)ard ypul<| JMkH^ri^i^e^were dealing fairly ijyith the 'Mititrivit uiider .theiy <rh?^rs e l n . ■steadfastly Refusing- all »up :

-upon the ptea of insuiiiciehcy of funds, and at the same sitting for a moment consider the establishment of High Schools, is certainly inexplicable to us. The one is a necessity — the other a luxury, and the funds contributed for the education of the mass should not be demoted to the imparting of a higher knowledge, certainly until the first and greater want bad been fairly met. The -matter is one that vitally interests school committees along the Coast under the jurisdiction of the Wanganui Education Board, and we need not go beyond the Awa Huri School to- see it in its most glaring defects. There is a teacher with a wife and family, a gentleman of education, who is expected to take a respectable position in society, and bis brains and labor and time are recompensed by the princely amount of £80 per "year. We are pleased to see that the manly protest of the Chairman of Matarawa School Committee is to be followed by further action, and that a meeting of chairmen of school committees is to be held in Wnnganui to-day, for the purpose of receiving the names of candidates for the vacancies of the Board, and to seleet those who are to be ultimately decided upon ; and it is determined to choose no one who is; not of opinion that the subject which should receive the first consideration of the Board is the establishment of good,, stable, elementary schools throughout the district, provided with efficient masters, who should be amply remunerated. This is the programme to" which the candidate who hopes to be successful must subscribe, and to all persons who; take a just and reasonable view of the matter it is one far preferable to that-which has marked the career of the Board during its first year of office.