A TEACHING APPOINTMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 March 1917, Page 4

A TEACHING APPOINTMENT.

The new Taranaki Education Board lias done excellent work since It came into office, and made departures which prove that the members are imbued with progressive ideas and desirous of still fur-

ther raising the standard of education of the province. But the position the Board took up on Wednesday respecting the appointment of a head teacher to the Central school may very easily lead to an injustice being done to the/teachers in the Board's services. Three applicants were selected and referred to tho school committee concerned. One was a Taranaki teacher now on active scrrwe. and the other two outside, teachers They were classed as equal in merit.! Now, the injustice lies in selecting outsiders for a position th'at can very well b« filled by Taranaki teachers. It is perhaps the best position the Board can offer and should be conserved to our

;eacher,s, at any rate until such time as

they can compete upon equal terms for any positions that are offering in other educational districts. At present they cannot. Auckland and all the other boards make a point of appointing their own teachers to the best positions, and nr matter how high the qualifications of outsiders may be their applications are invariably ruled out. When the Doruin-

ion graded list is settled, teachers from all parts will, of course, be treated upon their merits, but in the absence of a promotion scheme, Taranaki's best appointments should, be given to Taranaki mou. No one can say the standard of their attainments is below that of other districts, because the scholastic results recently published show that Taranaki teachers are holding their own very well indeed with other districts. This being so, why did not the Board select the Taranaki representative whom it considered was equal in merit to the otber two applicants? Surely-the Board does not wish to discourage its teachers. But that will be tho effect of withholding from local teachers the best positions in the gift of the Board. The Board w.uy say that the final decision is left with the committee, but this is only a form of weakness. It would have been-better had the Board made the appointment outright and not thrown the responsibility upon the committee. After all, the Board should be in a better position to judge of a man's fitness than a comrnittee, and certainly would not be influenced to the same extent by local prejudices and private and personal considerations. The committee, now charged with the duty, might just as well have the consideration of all the applications, and not be confined to the three selected candidates. That is but the logical sequence to the Board's attitude towards the matter.