EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 March 1919, Page 6

EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE.

ANNUAL MEETING OF XARANAKI MANCK, The 34th annual meeting of the Taranaki branch of the New Zealand Educational Irwfcimlr; was held in New riymouth ou Saturday. The president (Mr A. V. Sims) presidedMOTIONS OF CONDOLENCE Before proceeding with the business of the meetky the ehaiiuiwi awved that a vite of condolence be passed'to the relatives of the late M»iu B Mead (Huirangi), Miss Rowland (Mangahume) and Miss Chapman (Stratford). The motion was passed iu silence, members standing. CORRESPONDENCE. Mr W. T. Jennings, M.P., wrote stating that there were sufficient reasons in a letter which he had received from the secretary of the Institute (Mr M'llroy) to convince him that the claims were just, and that there would be no more staunch advocate for what was advocated than he (Mr Jennings). The lack of qualified teachers in outlying districts was very shocking. He had seen some curious pedagogues in some places during his perigrinations of some years. The best was wanted for training the nation's childhood, and the best inducements should be held out to attract brilliant minds to undertake the education, formation of character, and to build up the young in all that was noble, great, and good—Received. Mr C. R. Munro, District School, Remuera, Auckland, wrote thanking the Institute for nominating him for tho portion of the N.Z.T.I. for the ensuing year—Received.

Mr C. A. Wilkinson, MP., wrote returning thanks to the Institute for expressions of sympathy in the great loss sustained by the passing of his late son.—Received.

The Minister of Education wrote acknowledging letter from the secretary of the Institute urging that reforms b? made in the educational system, and, furnishing reasons in support of the request for improvements. In reply the Minister stated that proposals for further improvements in the educational system have been under consideration r>nd would be submitted to Cabinet.when the question of legislation for tho forthcnm'ma session was being reeviewed Received. ANNUAL REPORT. The annual report was as follows: Membership.—On January 1, 1918; there wem 249 members on the books. During the year 55 of these left the service of the board, and 57 new members were elected, making the present membership -251, including 14 on active service. This must be considered very satisfactory, as it is about !to per cent, of the teachers, of the district. Owing to recent ohanges in the staffs of schools. th?re were still about 30 teachers not enrolled, and the executive will be glad if members win do their best to secure them at an early date. Meltings.—Pour meetings have been held during the year, two" at New Plymoirth and one each at Hawera and Stratford, all of which were fairly well attended. Owing to the epidemic it was found impossible to hold tho usual December meeting at Stratford, so the executive held a meeting there to go through the order paper for the conferonie mid do other routine business. At the Hawera meeting in May, through the kindness of Mr Strack, headmaster of Hawera District High School. Miss and her assistants pare a very demonstration of Montessori methods, which was greatly appreciated, aa many teachers had never seen the«e methods in use. At the August nWmg Mf H. Dempsey, acting-inspector, pv« a very instructive paper on the teaching of composition. Your executive held four meetings at which a amount of routine business was transacted No legal cases have come before the Institute durirg the past year, which shows that the relations between the teachers of Taranaki and their respective school committees have generally been of a harmonious nature. The War.-Thc past vear has seen a larger call on the male' teachers of the ''strict, no fewer than w » ,g „«■ already small force of men havm* been c-illcd up for service. Several of the.e have returned ft> their 1 school duties, hut here st.ll remain some 14 on active serback before the lapse of many months. in the near future is the providing of a L t or , Matokra of respect to hose Taranak, teachers who played their part ln the great war ' The Campaign -Early in (he vcar a campaign on behalf of'educational pro o> th7v »y the executive: o forw r r ne '' maU in its Power to forward the campaign. A special *jeets of the movement were set out Hon W WaS im ' ited from eve " «*.' tion o. the community, and the response was very encouraging. A public meetmg was held at Xew Plymouth, at which much interest was shown. In September SSr Just visited the district and addled meetings at Hawera and New Plymouth to explain the Institute's proposals. Valuable assistance has been received from board members and schoo' committees' associations throughout the ■ district, and at the suggestion of the Manawatu School Committees' Association a further public meeting was held m October to further the objects in view. The press of the district gave the subject of educational reform prominence in its columns, and moreover lent valuable editorial support. The slight increase m the education vote in the recent short session of Parliament is due to the pressure brought bv members of Parliament on the Ministry, and we trust that the coming session will see the demands of the people for an improved education system acceded to Annual Conference.—At the recent conference at Wellington we were represented by Messrs W. A- Curteis 0 J. Howarth and A. V. Sims. Miss E Andrews, who had been nominated by the women teachers, was unfortunately not able to attend owing to the alteration of the date of the conference. The meeting was one of the longest ever held and most of the time was taken up in drafting a new Education Bill on lines in conformity with the policy of the Institute.

Finance—The finances of the branch are in a floiirwhiMj condition We lieCan the year with a credit balance of £29 16s 2d and close with one of £56 I4s 2d. Last Tear, owing; to the apTiointment of a. paid seeretarv for the New Zealand Educational Institute, all branches were called upon for nn extra levy of 4s ft! per member. To meet ttiis it was found necessary to raise <«r subscription to £1 for' last vear *»#» T3e« w»» done after due notice

I had been given, but this year we shall be able to reduce the amount to 15s, the minimum allowed by our constitution. Even this amount is considerably less than that paid by members of similar organisations throughout the Dominion. Legislation.—One of the effects of our campaign was a much greater interest manifested in education by members of Parliament, and it is due to this awakened interest that the proposals of the Minister passed so readily through the House towards the end of the session. These include a largely increased vote for school buildings, substantial increases to the allowances to school committees, an interim addition to the salaries of teachers, an increased vote to the superannuation fund, provision for dav continuation classes and other matters. These measures must be regarded as merely temporary alleviation olj the most pressing needs, and may be looked upon a? foretelling that general forward movement in education of which this Dominion is so much in need. In conclusion, we have much pleasure in stating that the relations between the institute and the inspectors and Education Board continue to be of the most cordial nature, and we beg to thank the secretary and his staff for rnanv courtesies during the past year. Our thanks are due also to the press of Taranaki for its hearty support. H has been most generous in „?iving space for reports and articles relating to matters of educational interest. On the motion of Mr Sims, seconded bv Mr E. Bary. the report and balance- J sheet were adopted. I

NEW MEMBERS. The following were elected as members of the institute:—Misses C. L. Barrett,, D. Woulfe, E. Waite, J. P. Gray, F. O'Brien, E. Rodgers, and D- White. ELECTION OF OFFICERS. The following were elected to the various offices for the ensuing year:—President, Mr W. A. Curteis; vice-presidents, Messr3 A. V- Sims and E. Bary; secretary and treasurer, Mr R. L. M'llroy; executive, Misses Andrew, Slattery, Laird, Messrs. 0. .T. Howarth, D. P. Evan, H. A Stratford and J. W Thomas; auditor, Mr Johnson. GENERAL. Messrs Sims and Bary were appointed delegates to the Peace Celebrations Committee. Mr Sims gave notice to move that the members' subscription fee be reduced to 15s. Messrs. MTJroy, Howarth and Bary were appointed a committee with power to act, to purchase an honors board. The names ot those killed, or those eligible for membership to the Returned Soldiers' Association to be placed on the honors board. It was decided that the teachers at New Plymouth schools be appointed a committee to assist the Ngamotu Seaside Committee to assist in arranging

the annual athletic sports competition, the date proposed being March 31.

Mr Sims said that he felt sure that every member agreed with him when he said that they had a perfect secretary. It was customary to vote an honorarium of £lO 10s for services rendered, and lie had much pleasure in moving a motion to that affect, lie did not think that such u sum would adequately repay Mr M'llroy for the amount of work which he had carried out, as his services were highly appreciated—Seconded by Mi»s Laird and. carried amidst hearty applause. The chairman said that he would like to see more discussion take place at the meetings of the institute. There were many questions of importance brought up at the meetings which deserved greater attention. • At this stage the retiring president vacated the chair, which was then occupied by the newly-elected president, who moved a hearty vote of thanks to the retiring president and the outgoing officers, which was carried.