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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5400, 18 July 1878, Page 2

The remarks which on -more than one occasion have appeared in this paper with regard to the training, preparation, and status of public school teachers in New Zealand as compared with those of other countries, will have no doubt sufficed to pave the way for a further occasional reference to that branch of an interesting subject. Throughout .the provinces of Canada, and from the earliest times, very great attention has boon paid to the education of the masses, and as a consequence we have jiresented to our notice in the case of that colony a system most elaborate and complete, and one of which the , success has bean assured in a very marked manner. Two years ago there issued from the Quebec press a neat octavo . volume of some four hundred pages, entitled “ L’lnstruction Publiquo an Canada.” The title page bore the name of Mons. Chateau, who for a long time occupied.the post of Minister of Education in Quebec. In the preface he tells us that his object in writing was to give a careful historical and statistical account of the state of education in each and all of the'provinces of the Dominion. And on opening the book we light upon a rich mine of information of suolr. a character as can hardly fail to interest thoughtful persons in thigcplony. _ It has been stated that there are tWuui'feiocts tp which the Department of Education in ‘

Ontario has given special attention during the past few years, and .both of these affect the teacher. The first relates to the condition and character of the schoolhouse and its accommodations, and the second to the master himself. And in both these respects a very marked improvement ' has taken place in Ontario during the last seven years. The provisions laid down in order to ensure a supply of suitably trained men for the work of teaching are. to a certain extent as exact and methodical as those employed under the English system—a system of which we gave a sketch in our issue of Saturday last. \ ■ . At the outset, no pei-son can bo employed in any of the public schools of Ontario, . even in the capacity of a monitor, unless he has first been examined and has received a certificate of proficiency from some officer connected with the system of education. This examination over, he commences as a monitor, that is as a subordinate assistant to the teacher. His next position is that of an assistant, not an assistant teacher, but simply an officer of the next higher grade to a monitor. For both these posts he' must hold a certificate from a county inspector, after undergoing an examination for the particular office. We understand further s from Mr. Cha.vea.u that after an apprenticeship in either or both of these offices, he passing becomes a candidate for the post of. a third class teacher. . If successful he lias to serve in this capacity for three yeax-s, and then passes ns a second class, and in two years afterwards as a first class teacher. Thxxs it may be noticed that, whilst according to the English system a teacher must have passed through nine’ or ten years preparation before he is considered as fully equipped for the work, in Ontario eight years as a minimum arc regarded as a sufficiently long period of training. But what appears to us to be the essential peculiarity of the system of examination is this, that when a candidate aspires to the office even of the lowest grade of teacher, he is compelled to submit to an examination which is common to all the teachers of that grade throughout the province. The questions for ' these examinations are, wo are told, always prepared by a central committee, so that the standard is xiniform throughout the province. According to the result of this examination, the candidate receives a certificate or not as the case may be, and this certificate is valid for three years within his own county, but is not considered valid in any other unless specially endorsed by the inspector of that county. In the grade into which he has thus entered he must remain at least three years before ho can compete for a higher rank; and should he, - at the end of three years, aspire to a loftier position, he is subject to a further examination of the same --kind. Butthough similar in character, this examination is much more-rigid, and takes in a higher class of subjects than that of the third class or lower grade. He must hold the certificate he then obtains for two years, when he may aspire to the very highest grade, of which the first-class certificate is valid throxxghout the province. The examination for this certificate is extremely difficult, and as a consequence, out of 5500 teachers employed in the "province only 250 are of the first grade. It is indeed most important that this should be the case, for the first-class certificate carries with it certain high privileges. For instance, the holder is entitled, ex officio, to become a county examiner, and in. grade A a county inspector, These posts are looked upon as objects of ambition by each teacher, and are thus extremely useful as incentives to industry and perseverance. It might perhaps be well if we were in a position to alter our plan of leaving the election of inspectors to the Education Board of each district, and adopt, instead the gradual evolutional system of Ontario.