The Wairarapa Daily. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1883. DISMISSING AN INSPECTOR.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 5, Issue 1500, 4 October 1883, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1883. DISMISSING AN INSPECTOR.

We have got another illustration of the way our Education Act works in this colony, from Wanganui. |The Wanganui Board has decided that Mr Foulis,' its Inspector, is not'entitled to its confidence, and that it will conduce to the advantage of the public service that his connection with it should cease. Now Mr Eouus for many years past lias been the Inspector of the Wanganui district and of the five thousand children who attend its schools, For a very long period his capacity for . his position has been questioned, but it is not till now that his services have been dispensed with. If Mr Foulis is incompetent now, he must have been incompetent when he was appointed some years ago. Indeed it is alleged that he has- improved during his terra of office. Apparently it takes as many years to get rid of a weak.inspector as it does to displace a weak teacher, A weak inspector or a weak,-teacher once planted under a .Board-appaaently has a tolerably long life before him. He is probably safe Tor a five or seven years' tep, and this is one of the weak points in our educational system. School Committees hav? not the power and Boards have not the moral courage to stamp iOiit' impiofitable servants, ' The consequence is that the colony is forced to maintain for an indefinite period public servants who are not worth their salt. This explains in a measure-why our Education Depart-

ment costs so much in proportion; to the results it ob'tainp, A percentage of its, revenue is obviously misspent, and it'is time that this blot was removed, Common sense would suggest that an Inspector-General should be alile to protect the colony against suffering from incompetent Inspectors, but as a matter of fact we believe that : the Inspector-General does not in any way hold himself responsible for inspectors. We hope that .the' country will soon begin to realize the necessity of reviewing the Education Act and its administration, It has been a sorl of gratifying surprise to the legislature that it succeeded a few years ago in framing a Colonial Act which would work at all, and both ministers and members are reluctant. ,to touch it lest they should throw it out of;' gear. /It is not the excellence of the measure as framed by 'Parliament, but the liberal annual vote which has- kept it •.on its legs so long, The act.is full of weak points and inconsistencies. The process of revising it might prove troublesome but we could if it were [undertaken probably reduce the annual vote which proves so heavily on the pockets of ratepayers without impairing the. quantity or quality of the existing teaching power.