OVERSEAS BURSARIES

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 10614, 12 June 1920, Page 7

OVERSEAS BURSARIES

FOR PRIMARY TEACHERS

INTERESTING STATEMENT BY MINISTER, FOR EDUCATION.

A recent Napier teachers’ deputation to the Alinistcr for . Education complained of tho lack of assistance from the Education Department for teachers who were granted leave of absence to visit other countries for educational purposes. Interviewed by a ‘‘Times” representative on the subject yesterday, the Alinistcr (the Hon. C. J. Parr), said: “I am very keen about teachers getting opportunities, so far as possible, of observation and teaching experience in countries outside Now Zealand. Obviously, nothing broadens the mind of a teacher more than travel and seeing the methods of other lauds. Not- much, however, has been done in this direction in the past. It is true that there are regulations providing for a grant of leave of absence to teachers desirous of visiting other countries, for such salary as may be approved by the department, but this regulation has proved in practice rather a dead letter. It is now proposed to make a modest beginning, and regulations are being submitted which will provide for the payment of travelling bursaries for primary school teachers. Wo must, for the present, limit the number of such bursaries to four per anmtm. “When the regulations go into effect,” continued the Aliiiisfor, ‘‘applications will bo invited fiom teachers who desire this privilege. The Education Boards will bo notified of this in due course, and the boards and the chief inspector of cadi district will report on each application before it comes fo the> department. Teachers will require to state their academic attainments. length of service, and experience, schools v isitccl in New Zealand. and any phase of education which they have studied and wish to investigate abroad.. Of course, the department will require some adequate guarantee that, the applicant will real-' lv devote his or her time abroad to educational matters, and a bond must be given that ho or sho will teach in New Zealand for a given number of years after the completion of any such visit subsidised by the _ department, Wo need to guard against the possibility of any teacher applicant merely malting use of the department’s otfer to secure a cheap holiday trip to Europe. The teacher must mean business, otherwise he need not apply. 1 hope* that this inexpensive departure will lead eventually to an interchange of teachers between the Homeland. Canada, Australia, and perhaps the United States, and ourselves. ' , “Our very insularity is a serious disability, and I fear that teachers may too easily get into a groove. Experience in the schools of other countries is the cure.”