The Waikato Argus GEORGE EDGECUMBE, Proprietor. THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 1899.

Waikato Argus, Volume VI, Issue 378, 5 January 1899, Page 2

The Waikato Argus GEORGE EDGECUMBE, Proprietor. THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 1899.

The Council of the Educational Institute is sitting in Christchurch. This Council is composed of the leading men engaged in the teaching profession in the colony, and the opinions they express are in consequence entitled to the most serious consideration. It will be noted by a telegram in another column that the Minister for Education addressed the Council. We agree with him in thinking that it would be a mistake to centralise the management of the school system in Wellington. There is too much centralisation already, with the result that the departments of the Government are used in many cases for the promotion of the interests of the political party, which, for (he time being, holds power. This evil has been most marked during the last six or .seven years, and has been most glaringly so in the case of the Police Department. If the appointments to schools vested in the Minister for Education there would be danger that they would be made for party purposes. What more effective propagators of political opinions could be found than the teachers in our public schools, if they could only be enlisted in the service, by the hope of promotion as a result of their success. It is unfortunately the case that men's political opinions are more often shaped in the mould of selfinterest than in that of patriotism. It can hardly be questioned but that the patronage of Ministers and their discretionary power to spend public funds should be restricted to the utmost possible degree. Tho Education Boards are gencrnlly composed of men of all shades of political opinions, so that there is some security that appointments will be made for educational reasons, unbiassed by political considerations. Centralise this power in Wellington, which means in the Minister for Education, and the danger will at once become imminent that our schools, so far as appointments are concerned, would be run on political lines. The ultimate success of our education system will depend in years to come upon the training which is given to the pupil teachers. We believe, therefore, that a syllabus should be promulgated by the Department of Education for all

tho teachers in training in the colony. At the present time a different system prevails in each education district. Manifestly one or other of these system is the best, or it may be that excellence prevails in each in some respect, and that a system based on the best features of all would bring about the most desirable results. It is for the Department to call to its assistance the most capable men at its command, and lay down rules which shall apply to the whole colony. The question of a centralised inspectorate lias boon considered by the Council and the principle approved. We agree with the Council for one reason, because the inspection of schools by men appointed by the Department and their periodical removal from one district to another would result in the tests applied being more equal than is at present the case. Again, the inspection and examination of schools by men independent of the local Board would be a safeguard against _ incompetent teachers being kept in positions. We also agree with the Council in thinking that there should be a colonial scale of staff and pay, At the present time the pay for the same work and responsibility varies considerably in the different education districts. This should not be, there should either be a levelling up or a levelling down. The system is colonial, and those who are employed under it should be equally remunerated for the performance of the same work.