Education Bill

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 53, 23 July 1914, Page 5

Education Bill

-Alii. MASSEY'S ASSURANCE. TARAXAKI -SKEI) NOT \V;)RRY.> Mr I'. E. Baker, o: Xew I'l,mouth, who has taken from the first a prominent part in tin- agitation againn the Ei lucatioii IJili as far as it affects Taranaki, wrote 60 Saturday last to the Prime Minister on the subject, and lias I received the following telegram:— "There i* no need to worry over the uroposcd boiMiilaneii of Education districts as set out in the Hill. The Minister' stated in the House when introducing, ■the measure that the boundaries were only tentative,, and all that was wanted was to reduce the number of Education districts. Personally, I feel sure that New Plymouth will still remain the i -headquarters of the Education district,, with enlarged boundaries"'

FURTHER DEBATABLE ! POINTS. East night the Education Board dU- • ; cu 3B ed the Bill in detail, and several ai'lmtiilile points were raised on which ae llonrd will make representations to the Minister. Section 14 provides, that the member- ' ship of a Board from rural areas stall be limited to six, An urban area is defined as a town of not less than 8000' inhabitants, and' the whole of Taranaki would therefore be a rural district. Th," Board expressed tile opinion that a membership of six was- not sufficient and will smwest that wlicre a district is wholly rural the Board shall number nine. The clauses dealing with members expenses are looked on as fairly satisfactory, except that the Board will suggest that a sum lie granted for "unauthorised expenditure." Exception was taken -to section 51, ]in which it is .provided that-no new school be estalblisihed within five miles of an existing school. The Board will .suggest that this be altered to three miles. It will also be suggested that a sub-section, giving the -Minister power J to close schools which he does not con- ] sider necessary, be deleted, so as to } leave this power to the Board's disj cretion.

Another sub-section of section 51 provides that the Board may provide a I school win-re the children 'number less i than nine .and require parents to make I the teacher's salary up to £IOO per annum; This the Board will suggest | should be deleted. I tThe Board expressed tile opinion that i the appointment of inspectors should (not he taken from the Boards' but approves of a Dominion scale of fa'nries. ItNj's of opinion that punil teachers should receive £SO for the first year, not £3i> as provided by the Bill. i TARANAKI SCHOLARSHIPS. The principal objection was raised to the part of tine Bill dealing with scholarships. In this no mention is made of "the Taramiki scholarships. The lflOS Act has been repealed and as the Bill does not re-enact that part of it dealing with the Taranaki scholarships, these —by oversight or otherwise—have disappeared.

DUNEDIN TEACHERS' OPINION". By Telegraph.—Press Association. Dunedin, Last Night. A special meeting of the Dunedin Male Teachers' Association was ilwld on Tuesday to consider the scheme of salaries in the proposed new Education Bill. It was unanimously re-oiveiL "That this meeting of. the Dunedin Male Teachers' Association thanks Mr. Allen for tta proposed Education Bill, and, while admitting it is an improvement on the present Act, it wishes respectively to draw his attention to the fact that i glaring anomalies exist and must exist in the proposed salaries scheme so long as average attendance forms the basis for payment, ,and hence this association reatftrms the principle that any satisfactory scheme must be based on. efficiency and service." A special committee was a«nointed to consider t'he various anomalies contained in the proposed Bill. At a representative meeting of wo- , men, it was resolved that a resolution, be forwarded to the Minister of Education, approving of bis action in making provision in the Bill far the I appointment of women inspectors, and of Education, and thanking Mm for the interest thus shown in the educational. we'fare of girl's.