EDUCATIONAL

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 165, 21 October 1910, Page 8

EDUCATIONAL

1 LEVIES OX PUPIL TEACHERS. STRONG CRITICISM. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Dnnedin, Last Night. At a meeting of the Education lioard to-day Rev. P. Eraser initiated a discussion on the subject of fees charged by the Education Department to pupil teachers. In moving that in the opinion of the Board the fees charged by the Department for matriculation and civil service examinations are excessive and should be reduced, Mr. Fraser said education was supposed to be free, and if any payment were made at all by students it should be to teachers who coached them and not also to the Department. The fee for matriculation was two guineas and for the civil service one guinea. Every time a pupil teacher sat for the latter examination he paid one guinea, not merely to get a certificate, but even if Jie sat for one subject. Pupil teachers were compelled to sit for this examination. The Department took £4OOO from the students for teachers' examinations alone. Mr. Fraser quoted the case of a young man in a school in Dunedin. He had already paid t!4 12s Gd jfor coaching fees (whereas coaching ought to be done by headmasters), he had still eight lessons to pay for at 2s Od a lesson, and, in addition, had a fee of £2 2s to pay for sitting at the examination. That was a nice total to have to pay in one year out of a salary of £4O. Mr. Fraser quoted another ease of a girl who had had to pay £9 18s out of a salary of £25. Head teachers' salar.ies had been increased partly with the intention that pupil teachers should be coached, whereas thcv received in many cases very little coaching and had to employ private coaches. An outrageous amount of work was put on pupil teachers' shoulders, reaching the proportions of "sweating." Mr. J. Mitchell seconded. He thought I the fact should be emphasised that fees ] were keeping eligible young people from the profession. Where the matriculation examination was set as a preliminary to entrance at a training college, the fee should be returned as soon as the teacher entered oil his or her college course. It was finally resolved to discuss the matter further at next meeting.