INSPECTORS’ CONFERENCE.

Taranaki Daily News, 9 February 1921, Page 7

INSPECTORS’ CONFERENCE.

MINISTER’S OPENING SPEECH. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Feb. 8. The Minister of Education opened to-day the conference of school inspectors of the Dominion and the heads of the four training colleges. Mr. C. J. Parr, in his opening address, said he could not stress too much the responsibility which rested on the inspectors and heads of training colleges He felt that the average individual did not appreciate the importance of the work of the heads of training colleges and the inspectors. Who could tell him what was going on in the schools? They alone knew whether the country was getting the right results from the schools to-day. Whether the scheme of promotion or grading was a success or otherwise lay with them. On their capacity and impartiality largely depended the success, contentment and satisfaction of the teaching staff. He could understand the old idea of the inspector as a man with a whip was gone. The job of the inspector was to see that teachers did their dutv. The country was under very heavy expenditure for education: salaries had been increased by half a million a year and half a million a year was being spent in building. The annual education bill at present was three millions. TTfe Government was endeavoring to do its duty in education and he was entitled to ask whether they were getting value for all this expenditure. • Were the schools developing the minds of the children and turning a better product generally than twelve or twenty years ago?