SHORTAGE OF SCHOOL TEACHERS.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 8, Issue 30, 5 February 1916, Page 3

SHORTAGE OF SCHOOL TEACHERS.

*-- • OPENING FOR RETURNED SOLDIERS. Since so many State school teachers have volunteered for active service at the Front, the difficulty which had previously existed of securing enough male instructors ha s naturally been accentuated considerably in the Auckland district. Evidently the same thing has occurred all over'New Zealand, as the North Canterbury •Education Board at present requires 40 teachers and assistants. It has been suggested by fthat body that some of the more highly educated returned soldiers might be utilised as temporary teachers, and the principal of the Training College there i s . making inquiries as to the feasibility of such proposal. Mr. E. K. Mulgan, Chief Inspector for the Auckland Board of Education, when seen by a representative of the "Auckland Star" this morning,' said in the back-blocks there was a scarcity of teachers, and the Board had accepted the services of a number of people who had no previous experience, but otherwise appeared qualified. The practice adopted by the Board is to send the candidates for a short time to some school to gain experience, and the headmaster reported as to their suitability for appointment as teachers. "Some of them," added Mr. Mulgan, "have turned out quite well; others, of course, have proved unsuitable. The same practice has been adopted in Australia ,but they give a longer period of training in the Commonwealth than is done in Auckland. I can see no reason why this system should not be applied to returned soldiers who have the requisite education."