EDUCATIONAL GRIEVANCES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 168, 15 January 1914, Page 8

EDUCATIONAL GRIEVANCES.

J,A!i<:i-XY ATTUXDED COXKEttKXCK. ! WJTIJ Till-; KDUCATIOX I'.OAltD. A conference v.-.ia liclil last; between members of Taranalii hcliool committees and the 'J'aranaki j Ulucn! ion Doard. \\II. Trimble look l;he chair, and mem'-is <if t-Jiu Hoard pit sent were:-- Me- is. <;. A. Adhun, W. Rogers, i!. Master.-,, A. .M. IJrailbury, W. L. I'cnncdy, ami A. .Morton. .Mr. \V. A. tialInntync. eiiief inspector, ami Air. A. (irjiy, tec'iink-al organiser, were also present. Delegates were priwent from the committees at Koru, Inylcwood, Ol'iitn. I'.enl, Kit/.roy, Central, (XVw Plymouth), l-'rankle'r, West, Kmt (\ew I'hnioutii). J!,.|l JJUnk, Tataraimaka, Opimake, Taniriitangi, Uurt'onl Oukura and I'lingiirelm,. ami from tlic Mo.t Association. !.u all, tln-y numbered about thirty. The object of the conference, according to .Mr. S. (i. Smith, cluirnuui f»i* , tin: Onlral School Cujnniiltw!, wlio acted its chief .spokesman. was t-u ask tlm Kdncalion Hoard, in conjunction with the njiinn it toes' delegates, to pass certain' riwolutions embodying the yrievI unci's which the comuuttW t'cel them-,ii;>'-t'.s to possess. I Tto« ' | 1:l i' "tiii,' | iowt'.vcr,(locliiH'd I > i'i.iv- ■ smlci- this idea. He was of opinon that | the. riMotatioiHt of a conference of school ; commit ices and tlie Board would not have mum weight with the Department. Piiii-thcr, he pointed out, after reading the resolutions, that all of these might r.:;t be coincident with the. Hoard's opinion: some, of them lie did not aiwe with himself. If, 'however, the meeting l'oso>ved itself into an amalgamated meeting- o? the delegates and the lioard. it was possible that the lioard might be outvoted on these resolutions, whit-11l would then iao forth as reprc.sv.ntinjr the combined opinions of the Jioard anil the delegates from the various committees,. Xi'vorthel'eas, lie expressed his cordial approval of conferences between education boards anil school com mi ttes on the ;>Toimd t!hat they would teud towards a smoother working and a better imdorsUmlin" between the Koard and the committees.

TJui meeting tljen reiolvcd itself into «. disctw-jion of t!h.e various matters which the delegates wished to bring before the Board. The resolutions referred to were, at the suggestion of the chairman of the Board, passed at a iafeequent meeting of. the delegates.

THE DISCUSSION. The various points on which the (liseussion 'touched, were: Ooamrnltees' capitation, subsidies to committees, physical and gymnastics instruction, salaries of teachers, anil the extension of the area of the Tarairaki Education district. Mr. S. G. Smith, after a little preliminary discussion, asked for an explanation of the method* pursued by the Hoard in paying the capitation moneys to school committees. "Why was it," lie asked, "thai theso moneys were always totally inadequate for the needs of tho committees? On what basis were the, payments computed?" Mr. Morton:; They aire computed according to the regulations. Mr. Smith: The regulations arc not strictly adhered to.

Mr. Trimble then explained tlut .1 few years ago, the Education Boards paid only what amount they thought fit. TJieire was nothing further in rr.n Act. Tlio Tsiranakii Education Board bail always been as liberal as possible, and had never paid less than 5s per. head. This payment, however, had not been the same for every school, ihis would have been unfair, as Hie schools with c, large attendance would have received much more in proportion than the smaller school*. The payment bad therefore been made in proportion to L'hc size of the school. Then, in 11)1-0, a.ll amending Act had provided that of the capitation paid to the Board (then increased to <2s) not less than ,w («l per head should be paid to school committees in the aggregate. The Hoard had since Mien paid 5s 6d per /lead 011 a scale proportionately the size of the school. Ho I; n( >w that tlio capitation paid was barely sufficient for lnero necessities, but the Board itself had little enough money wherewith to make ends meet. Thw committees should keep up a constant united agitation for more money. The Government could grant it, but not the Board. other delegates voiced the financial d 1 flicu!tics \vhii>h the counuiiWfs had to face.

Mi'. I'. Ai'oa (Koru) remarked thai his committee Jvad only £8 per annum hi capitation. and it was impossible to meet expense.*.

ding i;io matter of Government subsidies, Mr. Trimble remarked that ill his opinion "tho < -*<jvermtunit should subsidise iunmints mised by committees ('or any specific purpose. At tiie same t.iim>. he pointed out Unit it was only right Unit residents of tdie districts should partly pay for what might. In: termed sibooi luxuries. Mia (Denbigh) in the course of a lengthy speech, then reten ed to the matter of salaries in particular. lie. considered till,it any in-(-re;L-rs should be made at the ■bottom of the ladder. There was too much difference between tlio salary of the man with -CSGO per annum and the man at the bottom of tile list. Therewas no inducement for a young man to enter t'h'o treithing profession The delegate from the Moa iUociaturn .1., Breed.

Tlie discussion (hen turned upon llie question of tile amount of homework giyen to children, which many of tile ('oivsUioviNl vi*Mr. lialfcuilyno explained. that t.lie matte:r was left to the. discretion of .the teacher, who whs msOructed not, to give <m undue amiount, or to give homework by way of punishment, or in lie.u ot work which .should Juive keen done m school. liefdrring to .1 complaint by one of the (ielegiitea as to the system of holding the ex-.i urination for tiie sixth stand<l.l d ewti/ieaLo in central schools to which country children had to travel, Mr. Trimble explained that the Board had protested often -against. it. Jn spite of even-thing that could be done, lie remarked, town children must receive better educational facilities than -those in the country. -Mr. It. -Mantel's remarked that he somewhat regretted th<» attitude which the chairman .of the Hoard had taken Up. lie thought: that resolutions of n conference. be.tween the Boaml and delegates would haw had considerable "cijjlit wi(li Hie hdncaJtion Dciku-tnu-nt. i Ivciorring to the question of Salaries, he remarked tliat theso were -utterly inadequate. The average soku-v for males was £193 per annum, and for fenrales -C122. YYlien it wu eonsid-' ered that some teachers received £4o(i or £SOO per annum, it would be seen that others wo.ro being* .sweated. • Re* verting to complaint wliidh Imd been made concernins llie recent medical.examination of children, ho stated that

ut ! opinion t!iis did not, go far ci'iiu.: . ine Covoiuiiichl should provide rce medical attention for. ehildivh v.'.i o.-fe jkiii-iila were too poor lo jkiv for it.

A vote of thanks to tlio Education Hoard concluded the. conference, and n meeting oi' delegate* v.u.-j then held.