G. D. BBAIK.]

45

1.—13 a.

When it is remembered that infant-work is much more highly specialized and has to be kept up with the frequent developments to be successful, and that the average attendance on which the salaries are paid is much lower in the infant departments than in the standards, the proposal of the Bill to reduce the minimum salaries of the old scale is a striking contrast to the increase made in nearly every other grade. The salaries of the assistants, especially the first assistants in infants' and girls' schools. are also entirely out of proportion to the assistants in mixed schools. Grade II (16-25) of the old scale is struck out in this Bill, and a consequent reduction of £20 minimum and £30 maximum, or £9,4 10 minimum and £14,160 maximum for the Dominion, and yet we are told that the measure is to help the teachers in the backblocks. Grade II of the new scale also suffers a reduction in the minimum of £10, a loss of £3,120, which they make up if they remain six years in the one grade, a most unlikely contingency. Old Grade IV (new III) and old Grade V provide a puzzle in the new scale. The same grade of salary is paid for an average attendance of 36 as for 120. This is another instance of the injury done by abolishing a grade, and the experience of the Board is that the present Grade V teachers are amongst the best in the Board's service and deserve better treatment. Moreover, the salary attaching to schools of this size should be such as to tempt really good men to take charge of them, since they are often township schools where the influence of the teacher counts for so much. Surely such teachers should not be placed in a relatively worse position than the teachers of the new Grades IV and VI, whose salaries are handsomely increased. Generous treatment here would do something to take away the sting of a reduction in grade, which, though nominal and of all-round application, is none the less painful to earnest and ambitious teachers. Nominations for election to School Committees (Fourth Schedule, Part I, 1) : The proposal to close nominations one week before the date of the annual meetings will take away a good deal of the interest in the election of School Committees, especially in the country districts. The present system under which nominations may be made at the annual meetings should be allowed to continue. The Chairman: Since the adjournment at noon when Mr. Braik finished his statement he has gone over part of his statement with the Inspector-General, and Mr. Hogben will now ask a few questions and explain what has been gone over. 1. Mr. Hogben.] With regard to clause 2—by-laws, how they are to be made. You understand that there is provision in the Bill—subclause (2), clause 30 —for the making of by-laws ? Power is given to the Board to make by-laws ?—Yes, that appears to be so. 2. With regard to urban school districts —the number of members from urban school districts — that is arguable, and Ido not propose to ask any question on it. 1 have marked it to bring it before the Committee. Clause 6 : What you mean, as to old Grade V being reduced by £10, is this —that old Grade IV and old Grade V have been amalgamated, and the minimum of the combined grade is £10 lower than the forme c minimum of Grade V, while the maximum is £10 higher than the former maximum of Grade V : is that so ? —Yes. 3. As to the payment of Board scholarships, there is provision for payment, is there not ? —That is so. 4. Taking the Boards as a whole, this abolition of the grant of £250 to each Board with the new finance does not leave the Boards any worse off than they are now ? —I could hardly say that. The statement that you went through with me would certainly point in that direction, but there are all these additional charges to be made which in the meantime are of a somewhat indefinite nature. 5. Which additional charges ?—Clause 6, paragraph (iii). sa. The imposition of an extra grant of 6d. per pupil for Committees : that can be calculated, can it not ?—I am considering the latter part of the paragraph in our statement. (i. " Threepence per pupil for school libraries " : that can be calculated—£l,Boo ?—Yes. 7. If every school had voluntary contributions ? —Yes. 8. "Extra expense of rearranging districts" : I do not quite understand what that means I — The extra expense of members travelling. 9. But if you put two or three districts together there will be fewer members travelling, will there not ? —Rearrangement of the districts would not be recurring expenditure, but it would be extra expenditure for the year". 10. Will you explain exactly to the Committee what you mean by " extra expense of rearranging districts " ? —lf the districts were rearranged there would necessarily be expense attached to the rearrangement. 11. Moving the office ?—There might be office furniture and that kind of thing to consider. 12. In what case would you have to move office furniture ? —lt would depend where the office happened to be situated. 13. Can you tell me any case in which you would have to move it except Hamilton ? —Either New Plymouth or Wanganui. But there must be expenses attached to the amalgamation of two offices, it does not matter whether the office is in Wanganui or New Plymouth. There would be a transference of material, and perhaps a rearrangement of the organization. The office might have to be reorganized to facilitate the greater execution of business. 14. Did you see that the surplus officers can be taken over by the Public Service Commissioner ? —I did not notice that. 15. Any other points ?—There is that matter that we went into —the payment of the instructors, assuming that the technical schools were left in the hands of the Boards. 16. You mean if control was transferred to the Managers ? That is to say, the expense in clause 6 depends on the assumed expense in clause 86 : is that it ? —Yes. 17. Is there anything in clause 86 of the Bill to imply that control will be taken out of the hands of the Board and put in the hands of the Managers ? Do you think that is necessarily implied ?—You said there could not be separate control, so that we should be able still to have the same organization, which means a saving of money. lam referring to the management of technical schools.