TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVI, Issue 70, 28 July 1913, Page 3

TEACHERS' INSTITUTE.

ANNUAL MEETING. The annual meeting of the Taranakj District Institute was held at Stratford on Saturday. The President, Sir A. H. Stratford (Inglewood), preside cd. Apologies for absence were received from Mrs Dowling and Mr W. A Brown*. ,j. )f ,; THE SYLLABUS. It was reported that on receipt of a copy of the proposed syjlabus, the secretary and president had written to headquarters, protesting against the introduction of any new syllabus without a reasonable time having been given to the Teachers' Institute for consideration of it, and further protesting on behalf of the Taranaki teachers against the indefiniteness of this syllabus, as had been the case with the previous one. A protest had also been entered against the "sewing" syllabus. j . ■= > A discussion took'place in committee. , ' 'l'V'i J i '•• . ANNUAL REPORT.

The annual report "was Bead as fol-

lows:— 11

"Wei have 'the (honor ;to lay before you the report of the Executive for the year ending SOtliJune, 1913. Menjberslup.r-On 1 • July 'lst', 1912, there we're 151 members'on the books. During -the year, 26 > have left' tlia service, on©i has be'en transferred to. >another district, while 22 new members have been elected and 2 transferred from other districts, making the membership'at present 149, about 90 per cent, of the teachers of the district. During the last twelve months, a large number of new teachers have been appointed, and' ! we hope tha? members wiTT'/do their test" to lay' before them 'thV'adyatitages 'of membership and indiiße them"to'join. It is tfeli to reihemt/er that. r "every new member means" incrcas'eH strength to the N.Z.E.i:'; 1 -! ;'' ; t!: '\ Meetings.—Four, "meetings were held during the year, two at New Plymouth and one at Inglewood, and one at Stratford, all' being fairly well attended. Your executive held three meetings, all of which were well attended.

Annual Conference.—Messrs Stratford, Templer, and Mcllroy were elected representatives to the annual conference, which was held this year at New* Plymouth. Five of the remits sent .forward !>y this Institute were carried, and one withdrawn. At one of the sessions a very interesting paper on Schools in England and Wales was read by Mr Cutler, of Inglewood School, and very highly appreciated. Early in the year a committee was set up to make arrangements for the entertainment of the conference, but unfortunately the adverso weather conditions necessitated the curtailment of the programme arranged, the only part carried out being the visit to the oil wells, which was very much enjoyed by the delegates. A levy of 2s 6d was made on members to defray the extra expense and to make,a donation to the Provident Funds. The sum of £lO was raised, which was more than sufficient for both purposes. Legislation.—The only legislation passed last year was an amendment allowing teachers who failed to join the Superannuation Fund an opportunity of doing so on certain conditions. We believe that all the Taranaki teachers affected thereby have availed themselves of the privilege. This concession has now been withdrawn. It was hoped that the increased scale, of salaries drawn up by the executive of the X.Z.E.1., and a Dominion promotion scheme would have been made law this session, but unfortunately the Minister gives little hope in that direction at present. We trust, however, that, very strong influence will l)e brought to bear, not only on the Miuister, but also on all members of Parliament, so that legislative effect will be given to our demands this, year, and so allay the feeling of discontent that pervades tho education service from ono end of the Dominion to the other. A few copies of tho draft of the new syllabus have been sent to us, but we regret that Lite time afforded for criticism is too short to go into it thoroughly. The proposed sewing sylla : bus will meet with widespread condemnation.

Interviews. —Your executive met the inspectors in April last with reference to holding the proficiency examination as near the end o:E the year as pos-

sible, and asking that the pupils marks bo inserted in the schedules. They agreed to do their best to meet giro ii week at the end of May and our wishes in both directions, and K avo reasons for not inserting the marks. The New Plymouth members of the executive were appointed to interview the Board to get a better allocation of .the holidays. They were cordially received, and gave particulars of a vote of the teachers on the subject. The Board resolved to at the end of August, a course which met with general approval. Several schools in the back-blocks wished to have the two weeks together in midwinter, and wo understand that the question may bo re-opened in the near future. We see no reason why the present arrangements should not stand, those schools which wish to have the two weeks together being allowed to do so with the consent of the Board. Your executive also interviewed the Tarnnaki Members of Parliament before Parliament assembled, and laid before them the general "wish Of .teachers for increased salaries, a Dominion promotion scheme and centralisation of the inspectorate. ' The M.P.'s present expressed themselves in sympathy with tne views of the Institute, and promised to do their best to advance our interests. Finance.—The finances of the Institute are in a very satisfactory condition. We began the year with a credit balance of £5 6s 9d and close with one of £8 14s 3d. Only two subscriptions are unpaid at the end of the year. This year, and for the future, the. annual levy to,'the. N.Z. 8.1. has been raised to 5s 6d, to allow of sixpence per member being paid to the Provident Fund.

Thattks.-r-In conclusion, the thanks of the Institution are due to. the Edu " cation Board.for the,use of its room for our meetings, to the inspectors and Boards for the courtesy with which they have received and dealt with every suggestion of the Institute during the year, to the Press for its loyal support, and to the auditor for his services.

H. A. Stratford, President R. L. Mdlroy, Secretary.

The annual report and balancesheet were adopted on the motion of Messrs F. Tyrer and R, C. Templer,

ELECTION OF OFFICERS

Mr Stratford was reelected president, and Messrs Mail an 3 Dempsey vice-presidents, and Mr R. L. Mdlroy, secretary. ..".-•••:,., i'A; >

Mrs Dowling, and Messrs Templer, Pope, J. Thomas, and A. V. Sims were appointed, to- the : executive, and Mr E. Ba'ry re-elected auditor. >■■> . i' .. : : TEACHERS' SALARIES. The i secretary of. th 4 Otago District Institute forwarded a copy of its resolution, ■ requesting the executive of the N.Z.E.I, not to bring before the Minister of Education any scheme for the payment of salaries based on average attendance or average roll number until ■it has. considered some ■scheme based on.other principles. The letter stated that the. outlines of a scheme of, salaries and promotion based chiefly 'oil service arid efficiency had been brought forward by one of its members, and a committee had been set up to go fully into the possibilities of this, scheme,, v.,.. The Dunedin and Suburban Headmaster's Association forwarded a copy of the following resolution:— "This Association has learnt with great disappointment the statement of the Minister of Education that it was not his intention to introduce any legislation this session with regard to education. Also, it is with the greatest surprise that the Association hare learnt of the statement of the Minister that matters are going along satisfactorily in this department. The urgent needf or increased salary •» evidenced by the difficulty every Education Board is laboring under m idling vacancies with certificated teachers. ' The instability of teachers' salaries as based on average attend-, ance is continually in evidence. The impossibility under present conditions of bettering their positions after yai's of service is a deplorable discouragement to a large number of teacllters, and in this connection the payment of many teachers rminds one of the wages in sweated industries. Schools are under-staffed, and in the large. schools especially the work of many teachers is burdensome owing to the large classes under their control. In the opinion of this Association, these and other matters in connection with our education system, demand the immediate and serious attention of Parliament." Mr Templer then moved: "That this tice:—"That in any scheme submitted to the Government by the N.Z.E.I. it shall be provided that the salaries paid to the cadets of the service shall. , not be lower than those paid to |. cadets of similar standing in other j branches of the Government service." i Mr Sims seconded the motion, which J was carried.

Mr Tomlped then moved : "That tin Institute is strongly of opinion tha

the improvement of teachers' salaries should be taken in hand during this session of Parliament; and that the svstem of payment on attendance or roll number, should he abolished. That a copy of this resolution be forwarded to Messrs Wilson, Okey, Hine, Wilkinson and Pearce, with a request that they will, take joint action to give effect to the same."

Mr Twiukington seconded, and the motion was carried unanimously. A bonus of five guineas was voted to the secretary.