WELLINGTON EDUCATION BOARD.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10197, 27 March 1911, Page 5

WELLINGTON EDUCATION BOARD.

JIEVIEW OF THE YEAE'S WORK

BY THE INSPEC - ORATE,

The annual report of the Inspectors of Schools in the Wellington Education District has just been issued. The number of Bchools in operation during the year was 163, ■being an increase of one for the year. Two small aided schools were closed, and three opened. The roll number of the schools was 17,893, and the attendance at the time of the inspectorial visit was 17,414. There are eleven Roman Catholic schools in the district, with a roll number of 1442. The figures show an increase in attendance of 132 compared, with the previous year.

CENTRALIZATION

In referring to the school attendance, the Inspectors state: "Though on the aggregate number we have more than held our own, we regret to notice that the country schools as a whole show a decided decrease in numbers—nearly 400. This is in part due to the fact that many of our small settlers have moved to the cheaper land along the Main Trunk line; but, unfortunately, the main cause-has. undoubtedly been the growing tendency towards aggregation in towns. . . . • We had expected an increase this year in our District High School numbers, but this expectation has not been realised, a fact, largely due to the alteration in the Wairarapa railway time-table. In the Greytown District High School alone,, the new time-table entailed' a loss of nearly 40 per cent, in the number of secondary pupils.

ACCOMMODATION

Of the total of 163 schools, ifihe In-' . spectors state that 150 are satisfactorily accommodated. Ten si;noo 3 s are housed, wholly or in part, in rented halls or church-i'ooms, and eight are, in old and dilapidated or otherwise unsuitable buildings. It is satisfactory to know -that bo,th the Department and the Board .have in ■ hand "a 'comprehensive" '•" scheme ;to afford the teachers a higher. , s ar<3/of comfort:;;. Dufrng"' the "year, special accommoidation. has :f6^ood^wp^^ "7cliodis ' now the rural" course.

EFFICIENCY

Dealing;with the efficiency of the various schools, the Inspectors note that a large measure of improve-, ment has resulted from the suggestions made in the detailed inspection and examination reports. Of the 163 schools, 135 are reported • upon as from satisfactory to good, 18 fair, and 10 inferior. .The unsatis- ) factory, schools are ,in ,'the lower, grades, and the Inspectors emphasize the difficulty experienced in find- " ing suitable teachers to meet the frequent changes that occur in' the " / management of the schools in these grades. ' \ .

r AND PROMO- ■,-.-■■■■.•"■• </ TION. ■'•■'

In referring to the question of the classification and promotion, of pu-~ pils by teachers, the Inspectors draw attention to warnings contain-, ed in a previous report, and state that they again noticed at the proficiency examination an appreciable number of candidates who gave indications of hasty and ill-judged promotion from Standard V. An idea has gone abroad that the Inspectors' visits now mean merely a cursorv examination of the teaching

'-' methods and an estimate of the general condition of the school as.-j.a ■whole. The Inspectors assure the Board that the new order gives a decided advantage to the country school, which, is. visited; twice a year/ and the teachers' r dissipation- of.

the pupils put to a searching test,

In practice,; therefore,, in the, lower grade schools the; 'responsibility ,:' of

promotion is still almost entirely assumed by the inspectors. The Inspectors deal at some length with a suggestion made by the Department that / a ■ shorter period should bespent by children in the preparatory classes, so that , they might avail ; themselves of secondary education a. year earlier than at pfesent. The Inspectors point out the. difficulties in the' way of shortening the perpar- J atory course, but suggest that the 'work of Standard VI. might be made more in sympathy with the junior work of the secondary classed and that six months in the school life of a child might be saved by a different treatment of the subject of arithmetic. Every other, subject of the-, syllabus is made to "mark time" ; for arithmetic, and the progress of the primary pupil through the higher standards of the school course' is steadily retarded in consequence. The benefits of an excellent course in arithmetic are, in the opinion, of the inspectors, being persistently sacrificed to examination tests and requirements. STAFFING. The report emphasizes the fact that any inefficiency that exists in Grades V. and over is due more to inadequate staffing than to any other cause. It is pointed out that teachers in some schools are expected to get satisfactory results with classes of sixty .and .seventy pupils. -The Inspectors add that "the time for teaching children in battalions has gone by." UNCERTIFICATED TEACHERS. ... Though the position with' regard to uncertificated teachers is not so >acute in this district as it appears toibeih otherpaints of the Dpihinr jpri, Jt calls. fqros^nou/a ■'". consideration. Of a total of" 415 ; jfeachers in the Board's service j 55 are uncertificated. The Inspectors

recommend "decided action" in re'gard to those "who are apparently quite content to let matters drift on year after year without making any effort to improve their professional status."

THE RURAL COURSE

lu dealing with the nine High Schools of the district, which? have an attendance of 330 pupils,, special reference is made to the rural course, which has been in operation for a year. The Inspectors look upon the adoption of this course as the most important advance made in our educational system during the last decade. The course has not, in their opinion, met with the approval that it has a "right to expect in country districts. In more than one case "considerable opposition on the part of the local committees had to be overcome.

SYLLABUS

The Inspectors conclude an interesting survey of the year's work with a detailed, reference to the syllabus, physical instruction and continuation'classes.