8.—2

APPENDIX D.

TEAINING OF TEACHEES.

No. 1. BXTEACT FEOM THE THIETY-SEVENTH ANNUAL EEPOET OF THE MINISTER OF EDUCATION. During the last quarter of 1913, 439 students were in attendance at the four training colleges, of which' number 398 were Division A students. Of the latter, 392 had completed their course as pupil-teachers or probationers before entrance to the colleges, and six had obtained university degrees. The remaining forty-one comprised thirty-seven Division B students who had qualified for admission by passing the Matriculation or some higher University examination but were without previous teaching experience, and four who were admitted under the special provisions for teachers of small schools whose qualifications are incomplete. There is an increase of twenty-eight in the number of Division A students admitted during the year, whilst the number of Division B students admitted has increased from eight to thirty-one. Of the total number of students, 125 were men and 314 were women. The following table indicates the number of women students to every 100 men for each of the past four years:— Number of Women Students to eveby 100 Men. For the year 1910 .. .. .. .. .. .. 219 1911 .. .. .. .. .. ..197 1912 ..252 1913 251 The ordinary course of training is for two years, so that when the training colleges have their full complement of students (125 in each case) the number of students annually completing their training and passing into the schools will be 250. The regular outflow from the colleges together with supplementary accessions from other sources to the ranks of teachers in the Dominion it is hoped should prove sufficient to meet ordinary requirements. It must be borne in mind, however, that, as the result of recent legislation increasing the staffing of schools through the gradual substitution of adult teachers for pupil-teachers, there have been, and for some time to come must be, exceptional demands for teachers. It is clear that if competent assistants are to be obtained the steps of the process by which adult teachers are being substituted for pupil-teachers must be gradual. Two steps in this direction have now been taken, in 1911 and 1913 respectively, by which, in all, the appointment of over three hundred additional assistants has been authorized, and any further step must be determined by the general prospects of a reasonably efficient supply. As a temporary measure to meet immediate needs, permission was given by regulation at the beginning of 1913 to the education authorities controlling the training colleges to admit at their discretion a certain proportion of the students for a course of training for one year only. Except in the case of graduates or persons of similar status, so short a course as one year cannot be recommended, nor can it in any sense be considered complete ; but as the permission is confined to a limited number of entrants who have already served in the school as pupil-teachers or probationers, many of whom doubtless are only too anxious to enter upon permanent positions as teachers with as little delay as possible, circumstances appear to warrant recourse to the expedient. So far, only a very limited use has been made of the permission, and that it should have a much wider application is not particularly desired. For a supplementary supply of teachers suitable for employment in small schools for which a fully-trained teacher cannot be expected to be available some other resource may well be regarded as open to consideration. For the teaching practice of students the normal practising schools forming part of the training college in each case are available, and opportunities of observai—E, 2 (Ap P . j>),