EDUCATION COMMISSION

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 68, 7 August 1912, Page 6

EDUCATION COMMISSION

THE OFFICIAL REPORT. DRASTIC CHANGES ADVISED. By Telegraph—Press Association. Wellington, Tuesday. Following is a sumnrny of the report of the Education Commission, laid on the table of the House to-day:— The rpommendfitions of your Commission embody proposals for the revision of the whole system of primary, technical and secondary education on lines which -should give continuity of government from the 'Minister to the school committees, retaining the maximum of local interest, while ensuring complete responsibility in evury grade of activity. The institution of a Council of Education, five education boards. J school boards in large centres, and school committees for .scattered districts, should I>e an ideal method of dealing with 'what we consider is the most important branch of local government in the Dominion; while proposals for encouraging local contributions to the cost of education and the protection of the system in more remote localities should : ensure the establishment of the greatest facilities for carrying on our education system without trenching too largely upon the public purse. The outstanding weaknesses of the present education system may bo enumerated as: Complexity of departmental administration, the difficulty of .securing satisfactory management in small education' districts, -want of uniformity, aim and method amongst inspectors, the unsatisfactory methods adopted by most boards for the appointment and promotion of teachers, the indefinite and complicated nature of the syllabus, the unsuitability of school buildings and equipment in many instances, inadequate playgrounds, lack of co-ordination between , ' the. primary and secondary branches, ■ of education, want of facilities for' rural training, and the absence of any degree of direct responsibility in boards ( for the expenditure of the moneys enj trusted to them. The commendable features are: The ] devotion to duty shown by officials, the J .services rendered without pay or re- | ward by the large number of memi bers of the different governing bodies, I the zeal and high standing of the in- [ spectors and teachers, the considerable i measure of success attained in the ap- ( I plication of modern methods of educa- : tion to the problems. of everyday life, I and the readiness of pupils to take adj vantage of the system, as shown <by j the liigh percentage of attendance | maintained, particularly in those porI lions of the Dominion where climatic I and other condftions are unfavorable. I COUNCIL OF EDUCATION. I Your commissioners recommend the i 1 appointment of a Council of Education, to consist of fifteen members, and to be called the "Council of National Education." the following members of the council .to be appointed by \ the Governor-in-C'ouncil: The Minister ] of Education (who shall be chairman), !the Director of Education, the Supervisor of Technical-! Education, and two representatives of the producing ihdns- | tries of the Dominion, together with ten other members, who shall be elected ! as under: One by.tjic inspectorial staffs 1 of the several education boards of the j Dominion, one bv each of the proposed !five education boards; two by the certificated teachers; employed in -primary schools, one to represent the North Isi land and the.oth,er f)h,e South Island, one by the certificated teachers employed in J secondary schools, and one by the Senate of the University p-f New Zealand; the! non-official and elective members of the j 1 council to be paid out of the consolidated revenue a sum to cover all travel- { j ling expenses reasonably incurred by j them both in attending meetings of the I council and transacting the business thereof, together with such sums for each attendance at such meeting as tie Go-vernor-in-Council may, from time to time. direct. The powers, duties and functions of the council to be: ( (1) To report to the Minister and advise him upon the methods of, or the developments in, State education in other countries which in the opinion of the council can be advantageously introduced into the Dominion. (2) To report to the Minister on any question relating to national education. (2) To report to the Minister on all questions relating to the administration of national education within the Dominion, as well as in reference to the coordination of all branches of such edu-

o.i lion. (4) To prepare a uniform code of regulations (dealing with guiding principles but omitting details) referring to school curricula, school attendance "anil the staffing of schools, classification of teachers, making provision for the payment of inspectors' and teachers' salaries, for the erection- and equipment of schools, for the. cost of transferring teachers, and for the conveyance and board of pupils, for grants for scholarships and free places, for the control of. training colleges, for the maintenance of higher education, and for the control of other institutions administered by the Department. The council to furnish to the Minister, for presentation to Parliament, a report covering their operations- for encli year ending December 31, such report to be presented to Parliament not later than July, and if Parliament be not then sitting, then within ten days after the commencement of the ensuing session; the council to meet half-yearly and at such other times as the Minister mav direct. BOARDS AM) "OOMIMTTTKES. Education boards should lie reduced from thirteen to five—one for Auckland as now, one for Wanganui. Taranaki and •llawke's Bay, one for Wellington, Nelson and Marlborough, one for Canterbury, WesUand and Grey, and one for Otago ami Southland—each board to have twelve members, elected^ for three years on adult suffrage, the chairman to bo paid. These boards are to have the right of control over .primary, secondary and technical educatfon "and native schools. Wchool boards of seven members should be ffita.hli.shed in boroughs of over 80(H), and may be established in smaller places if a majority of electors so desires, the funds to consist of the etipitation of os per pupil, such grants as may be mads by the education boards, a Government subsidy of £1 for £1 raised by voluntary contribution and a Government subsidy of £2 for £7 raised .by local rates or contributed liv local bodies, and of £! for €1 donated by bequest. These hoards should have the. right to set up special committees and appoint any persons specially qualified to act (hereon. Where practicable, education boards >hould divide that portion of their districts not in the school board district info districts containing not less than i' two nor more than tea schools, for which I ■electors- should appoint a committee, the | education hoards to prescribe hv regulation the duties of these committees. Tt is recommended that inspi-etors i* each of the proposed five districts should •be Hiissified as follows: One chief inspector receiving £OOO. rising to £050; | nvo seniors, vitjii salaries of £SOO to

j- 1 £550; and inspectors with£4oo t0£450; f the number in each district to be subject , to the approval of the Director of Edueaj tion. 'FIXAXCIAL QUESTIONS. 1 Tlie report then deals with the fin--1 ances, and shows that in eleven years the cost of education has increased by C 504.000. The Commission, however, considers that quite £1)0,000 has little connection with education in its ordinary sense—infant life •protection and library subsidies, for instance. The Commission also considers that too many returns are furnished, and makes suggestions for reducing'tliem'by some £lO,000 per annum. Most of the large increase mentioned is due to increases of salaries and expenditure on buildings, but the Commission does not consider that the sums granted are sufficient. It is recommended that the Education Department, which now has six brandies, should be reconstituted with: (1) The Director of Education responsible to the Minister for everything but universities; (2) the abolition of the native schools branch; (3) the appointment by the Minister of such officers under the director as may be required. To supply more teachers it is recommended that the number of students at training colleges lie increased, and that the number of probationers be increased, and that education boards be allowed to allot them to any approved school. The Commission is in favor of increasing salaries still further, in order to attract the most promising young men, and to this end suggests that all schools having | an average attendance, of over 500 be included in a grade; that no certificated teacher above grade 1 should be paid less than £150; that infant mistresses in higher grades chools should receive not less than a second assistant; that teachers in high schools and assistants in secondary schools should received higher rates with yearly increments, and that no deduction should be made from certificated teachers under 2'l. It was to be regretted that in many large schools classes of sixty .or seventy pupils were in charge of a single teacher. The coming into operation of the new scale of staffing would remedy this evil to some extent. Eyen then the ideal of forty pupils per teacher would not be reached. Dealing with grading, the Commission

reported receiving very complete evidence in Wanganui and Auckland as to the success 1 of the grading and promotion adopted in those districts, the main features of which were the prominence given to teaching ability, to organisation, and the attention to essentials so important in those entrusted with the training of the youth of the Dominion. It was shown

that the great majority of teachers and committees in t he districts mentioned were satisfied that the system was bettor than the old method of appointment, the evils attaching, to canvassing especially 'being largely avoided, efficient teach-

ers being ensured fairer opportunities of promotion. Every education board should institute a system of grading and promotion of teachers. At the annual conferences of chief inspectors applications for the transfer of teachers from one education (district to another could be dealt with. In the event of a teacher on a grading list being superseded by the promotion of another teacher, the former should have the right to appeal against such action to a committee consisting of a representative of the education board concerned and a representative of the teacher and a chairman appointed by them. In the event of the appeal being sustained, such teacher should receive promotion at the earliest possible date. The attention of your Commission has been drawn to the fact that on February 13 of this year amended regulations for the examination and classification of teachers were gazetted, and that, though by Order-in-Council dated March 25, the coming into operation of the regulations was postponed until June 1, 1913, many teachers were put to considerable trouble and expense in consequence of receiving insufficient notice of the proposed change. It is recommended that in future at least twelve months' notice should be given before similar new regulations become operative. It is further recommended that every facility and encouragement should be

given ro uncertmcatca teacners to ibecome qualified by allowing them to take the examination for the D certificate in sections of any three 'or more subjects, in any order, in any one year, and that they receive credit for every subject in which they obtain a pass. The system of paying boards' capitation on the manual work done in schools on the basis of individual attendance' on certain days at schools should lie abolished. The inovprnmonf.

1 .should substitute as the 'basis the aver-, age weakly roll of schools in Hie standards in which instruction is given, > The scale of payment for country classes should he considerably increased. The .svstem of 'payment for instruction , in technical subjects should be revised in the direction of making the payments depend, less upon capitation, thus givin" teachers more stable salaries and the ] managing body security of finance. The abolition of district 'high schools and the diversion of free-place pupils from secondly schools in favor of attendance at technical schools was advocated by the Commission. The need for a uniform examination in respect to the teaching of arts and crafts was recognised. The fact of so many pupils leaving school without passing Standard B justified the introduction of compulsory continuation j classes in technical schools. The Commission fouud that duplication of school

auu couege courses was nor, at present greatly in evidence- A certain amount of overlapping existed as- between art schools and technical schools, but it was difficult to be unless all art schools receiving Government grants wei-e placed under the control of the proposed school or education boards. One of the main, if not the chief, defects of the present scheme was the tendency to make public examinations the objective; the result being that the ranks of clerks and typistes was unduly extended. The position of endowments for secondary education was hardly as satisfactory as would seem to be necessary if the full purpose of that means of ensuring the real intentions of the trusts in the light of modern methods was to be carried out. Considerable improvements' could be effected in the administration of the funds in question, and a saving of some £50.000 per annum might be effected by, inter alia, the alteration of the system of control, the demilitarisation of Mie junior cadets, the pla«ing of the whole work of inspection in the hands of the boards, the reform of free places and .scholarships, the simplification of returns, the supply of art school requisites to the boards direct from the manufacturers, and the abolition of postal anil telegraph charges. The demilitarisation of junior cadets was advocated in the interests of the system-tic carrying out of a course of phvsieal instruction. It is recommended that two agricultural colleges should be established in the Dominion, one in the .North Island and one in the South. Continuation classes in agriculture and dairy work/ in connection with distri«t high schools I should be arranged wiiercvar practicable.