The Daily News. SATURDAY, JULY 3, 1920. STAFFING SMALL SCHOOLS.

Taranaki Daily News, 3 July 1920, Page 4

The Daily News. SATURDAY, JULY 3, 1920. STAFFING SMALL SCHOOLS.

II there is one class of people who deserve special consideration in the education of their children, it is the pioneer settlers of the backblocks, yet they have been compelled to put up with disadvantages in this respect that should long since have been removed. The outstanding difficulty has been that the Education Boards have frequently been unable to find teachers who would consent to undertake this work so far away from town life, where settlement is scattered, there probably being only a makeshift building, no residence, and very soanty pay- At present the teachers of back-block c'hildren are paid at the rate of £l2 per head for each pupil at each settlement; being provided with board by the settlers. This class of school numbers from eight to fourteen pupils in districts where settlement does not justify the erection of school buildings. One result of the disinclination of the teachers to take up this work is that the Boards have been obliged to place these schools in charge of any teacher offering, and it can readily be understood that those possessing high attainments and ambition would rarely, if ever, be content to teach in the backblocks unless special inducements were offered. It has been by no means a rare experience for one of these schools to be closed owing to there being no teacher, and yet the children are entitled to as good an education as the more fortunate children in the towns. The difficulties have been recognised and discussed again and again, and nojv the new Minister of Education (Mr. C. J. Parr) has brought to bear on this question the same enthusiasm and initiative as that which has already characterised liis action in relation to other phases of the educational problem. The Minister evidently sympathises with the settlers who have gone out into the wilderness, and he recognises they are deserving of special treatment in the way of education for their children. The provision of a practical remedy is no easy matter. Mr. Parr states that one way of dealing with the problem would be to establish hostels at the nearest town and send the children to board there, in charge of a matron, thus enabling them to obtain a first-class education. Regarded from the educational point of view, this proposal would be excellent, but viewed from the parents' standpoint it is unlikely to be acceptable, for obvious reasons, the chief of which is that home is the best place for children between eight and ten years of age. As an alternative, the Minister has asked for a departmental report on the possibility of providing a special relieving service of half a dozen' teachers —or more if required—for the backblocks, giving them probably better salaries than they could get in the towns ordinarily under their grading. This propo sal appears likely to solve the problem, especially if these tpachers receive special marks for their work. Necessarily they would be only temporarily engaged at any particular school, and would go wherever required, thereby preventing any school from being closed. They would probably have a rough, but a useful, experience and the inducements offered should be on a commensurate scale- This plan would be far less costly than'the hostel project, and far more satisfactory. Having gone so far towards solving the problem, it is to be hoped the Minister will see the matter through, and thereby remove n long-standing grievance and in jus-1 tice.