Educational.

Thames Star, Volume XIV, Issue 4484, 19 May 1883, Page 2 (Supplement)

Educational.

Some difficulty appears to have arisen be-| tween the Board of Education in Auckland and the Parnell School Committee,; owing to; the Board having selected „aj te-icher to fill a vacancy in a school under the control of the Committee. From the fapts which have been published it will be learnt that the appointment of this won* derful Committee was made in response to a circular issued by the Orange Lodge,; and an assistant master in the Graf ton: Road School, who is an officer in the; Lodge referred to, was.elected as,Chair-i man of the Committee. This body, by' some means, made things so unpleasant for the head master of the school above mentioned that he resigned his position,; and the nominees of the Orange Lodge, of which—be it remembered—the Chairman of the Committee is an officer, immediately took steps to pitchfork their Chairman into the vacant position. The Education Beard, alive to their duties, got their Inspector to report as to who should succeed the master who resigned, and a thoroughly qualified person was named, a man of degree from an educational point of view, and the Board indue course informed this Committee of their selection. The Committee then refused to accept the Board's nomination, insisted upon appointing their Chairman to the mastership, and they have given evidence that they will not budge from such determination. ' Now, putting aside the qualifications of the two .persons named for the position, one of which, by the way, was selected by 1 a competent officer of the' Board, while the other is the Chairman of the body which appoints him ; .and not dwelling on the fact that the Board's regular action has been the means of securing a trained teacher, and a 8.A,, while the Committees appointee has been pronounced by the Government Inspector as not fit, or even competent, to fill the position|his brethren desire ; it is a matter not only, likely to cause regret, but will likely be the source of a most righteous indignation, that, in the first place, any secret society formed for party purposes, should be allowed to so interfere with the rights of the people or, secondly, that any such factured body should be enabled to foist their creatures * upon the community, more especially in connection with so important a subject as education. Internecine strife has so long been an ingredient of school committees that most people have long ceased to regard their squabbles as of more consequence than a dog-ficht, but when public rights are so grossly infringed, and when power placed in the handsof presumably conscientious men is so grossly abused as it would appear has been done in this instance; some intervention is necessary. The incompetence of the members of school committees in educational matters has long been a bye-word, and the assumption of some of them in attempting to select masters without some professional aid has been so frequently prolific in examples of their ignorance, that it is a wonder they do not cease to travel o*er a ground containing so many* pitfalls. I Local masters through social or other I qualities, other than jthose attached to

their teaching capabilities, frequently become popular in a district, and with the members of the school committee;under whose. control they are; thus! they are^ frequently recommended to fill vaotneieS^ for which they are totally unfit. In the case of a master being required, who w refit- to judge of his excellence as the Inspector, who; regularly goes over his work, and is without any doubt' the best judge of his teaching power. To School Boards should be left «n/y the management of local affairs, deleting the important »ask of appointing teachers. Each Committee* is represented on the Board,[and the Board; is the result of the selection of the whole of the Committees throughout the district. Surely some confidence can be reposed m its members. The Inspectors, acting according to its instructions, are men who have very -responsible duties. (o perform, and one would suppose that some trust might "be.'.placed in them.-. Doubtless "th<-s ■ inspired committeemen are more competent to decide so important a matter, but we—at present—retain an opinion to the contrary. There appear!- x to be a dead lock at present in the ease referred to, but we hope that the party ' who were elected in accordance with the circular issued from the Orange Lodge on the 9th December last, and signed by Mr D. Groldie, Grand Master—who is also a member of the Board of Education—will withdraw their opposition and allow things to progress in occordance with law and order,!and so save their district from many unpleasant-reflections and a certain amount of disrepute.