EDUCATION.

Taranaki Daily News, 11 September 1920, Page 5

EDUCATION.

CHOOSING THE DIRECTOR. AN IMPORTANT PRINCIPLE. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night. The- Estimates were again before Parliament to-day, and the first item taken was Education ( £2,380,662). Mr. T. .K. iSidey (Dunedin South) moved an amendment that the item of "Director of Education, £1,050," be reduced by £2OO as an indication "that the new director about to bo appointed should be a New Zealander, and that he should 'be given twelve months' leave of absence with a view to his having an opportunity of examining other systems of education. He urged that we liiul men in the Dominion who were well qualified to fill the position, and ho contended that many overseas appointments to tho public service had been great disappointments. Mr. T. M. Wilford (Leader of the Opposition), strongly supported the amendment. The I-lon. C. J. Parr (Minister of Education), in reply, said the appointment of the new Director of Education was not. in tho hands of hifi department, or in the hands of Parliament. It rested with the Public Service Commissioner, who was advertising in New Zealand, Australia, and Great Britain in oij'der to get ,the best He wanted to know what was meant by a New Zealander. Was it a man who '.vaa born in the Dominion, or a man who was living in the Dominion? He deprecated taking a parochial view of such an important question as this. Mr. D. G. Sullivan (Avon) thought the attitude of the Minister on this question was right, but having got applications from' all parts, and all things being equal, a New Zealander should get preference. Mr. Parr said that because there were a number of good" teachers in New Zealand it did not follow tlijit they would make a good Director of Education. What was wanted was not a good teacher, but a good organiser. If a New Zealander was appointed he certainly would have to go abroad, because we lagged behind in educational matters in New Zealand at the present time. Ha knew of no outstanding figure in New Zealand at tlife present time on whom he could put his finger and say at once "this is the man for the position." Mr. S. G. Smith (Taranaki) argued that the 'appointment of the Director should not be made by the Public Service Commissioner. 1 It should be made by the Minister, who should have at his right hand a man of his own choice. He thought every young New Zealander should have the opportunity of filling the highest positions in the land, and he would support the amendment. Mr. Maasey asked what would be said if Canada, for instance, declared, when calling applications for a position, that no New Zealanders need apply. He did not think we should close the doors to men from other parts of the Empire, but he agreed that, all things being eqnal, a New Zealander should be appointed to the position under discus sion. Mr O. Hawken (Egmont) thought they should get the best man available anywhere, but the salary might be bigger —at least £laoo. Some of tho other responsible education officials should also lie more highly paid. At this stage Mr. .Sidey announced that he desired to alter the motion to read that the applicant appointed must be a man with educational experience in New Zealand. He did this to remove the impression that it' was desired to restrict the appointment to a nativeborn New Zealander. The Minister, replying, said salaries similar to that proposed secured prominent .educationalists in Australian Spates. It had been suggested that the Minister was against the appoint-' ment of a local man. That was not so, but ho proposed to test whether a better man was obtainable from outside at the remuneration offered. If the best man could be found in our midst he uliouhl have the job. Mr. R. Masters (Stratford) pointed out, as evidence of the insufficiency of the salary offered, that a headmaster was recently appointed to Wellington College at £IOOO a year with residence, which really brought his salary to a higher leven than that of the man under whose official direction he was to work. The amendment was lost by 38 votes to 14.