EDUCATION OF GIRLS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 17, 8 June 1914, Page 5

EDUCATION OF GIRLS.

OONEEREXUE OF WOMEN TEACHERS l>i w iLUASUTOii. By Telegraph—,l'ress Association. Wellington, Saturday. Some intMesihrjf questions relating. to educational .nutters were discussed at [ u meeting of the Wellington Association of Women Teaeher.s held at Godbera'! Tea lvooiite hut evening. .Alls.-, P. Myers | presided over a large attendance. ' j Miss Myers addressed tne meetingi on ! the importance of 'Hie education of girls I on tlio broadest lines in order to equip them for the great influence, they would j wield over the men ■of the next."genera- j tion, either as mo* hers <',)• as teachers. or a.s nurses. In these capacities -.-[re said women were closely associated with nil young children, and had the greatest influence throughout the most impressionable year* cf both hoys and girls. '. The girl of to-day must be educated with bliis fact well in view, and it wns j. only reasonable to acknowledge that if i' the proper authority were given to i suitable women much .improvement on ! the present system could hj" "obtained/. ' The .Minister for Education has de-jred to be informed, of matters discussed by the women teacher-'. The fact t'fc'at a resolution had been passed to the effect thai women members should' be included in the proposed Council of Education showed how general a feeling on flint point existed'. , ' j Tho p/sychor.physiologiieal needs >of I pirliS at the adolescent stage, said Miss Myers, could not .>e adequately understood' except 'by •women. Another very important matter in the education of girls' was the increasing demand for a knowledge of domestic science, peculiar- | ly a subject for women to deal with. I i The unification of the educational syjrM tern was an important i'iiiietV"n of any I controlling 'body, and in order that this could he ,donc effectively, nil classes 1 must be represented if girl*, as well as the boyls, were to be educated.so as to equip them-fully physically, mentally, and morally, for the battle of life, the counsel and judgment of women us well'.. a a of men must be br.ught to bear on;' what so vitally concerned the future I' welfare of the nation. I The pi'osent conditions, would' have to | bo modified to eJl'ect improvement, and J it would be .necessary that the women j selected, for tv.e purpose shouid have I first-hand knowledge of the conditions I prevailing in the schools. They isliowld be able to take a comprehensive view of education, practical, and in sympathy with the human element ll.itit was to he developed. Mis* Condi then moved: "That the powers of appointing teachers bo removed from eommittivvs and vested in educational boards and inspectors'." The motion, she said, did not propose to aboMAi committees. They all realised and appreciated the committees' powers of assisting the national system of edlucation. For instance, they didl much to arouse local interest in the schools, and, with the co-operation of the teaoMers they provided apparatus, libraries, etc., and w,«e instrumental in providing for the sanitation of schools'. It was well known that some school committees themselves wished tiliiey hail not the power 'of appointing 'the teachers, and realised the limitations of a parochial and local view, and in some cases the committees committed gross misilalces by not knowing enough about, teachers and their quallheatiolis. From a 1 eiufc ) er's point of view it wapt .imi,ch more satisfactory that wmeone, for instance, the Inspeetor-fiencral, who had 'some knowledge of the applicants' efficiency ami service, should make :fe appointment,'!. An amendment lo and the words "pending the appointment '!>f an administ, alive Council of Education" was adopted', and the motion way carried iman'nioiKly. Mis* Sinclair, in a brief address, on cr'.riin suggested reform!-;, snid that a ffVent deal of useful and nractieal knowledge had been accumulated by the, women tcaohe.iH individually, and pointed out the great value it wouM havf if it were concentrated to lie used by representative?. ,*ue indicated tlib present lack of continuity o»twecn the luimiiry and secondary schools', a phase at which girls required careful supervision. After the strain of scholarship mork, which was under present condifiens unnecessary, Clio scholars pa'ised on to a fresh syllabus which included new subjects. There wal< much waste of ; power for several reasons. The tend- | enev to specialise too soon was' referred . to girls frequently leaving school lo heeoiiw typists when quite unfit to heaim» corresponding clerks, cr to do j other vaniiiWe work for their employer's, j Tu the matter of holidays, also, seme I ndiii-dmont was neceswv. At present | co'lcren. secondary sclhooH and technical in,-1 if'Ut.ions all had different vcWft-1 tioim, which from the narents' point of view was unsatisfactory. I