1.—13 a.

92

H. A. PARKINSON.

144. Have you ever attended the meetings of an Education Board ?-— No. 145. Have you ever seen the minutes of an ordinary meeting ?—Yes. 146. And you say that the record of the work performed at that meeting showed it to be of such a trivial nature that we could abolish the administering Board and do it by some other means i —l did not say that. I said the record of business done is such that it might just as well be done by a local body already existing ; that the somewhat expensively managed Boards are not needed for the kind of duties they have to perform, such as ordering small repairs, and so forth. In any important matter the Board has to appeal to the Department. Its hands are tied in all important matters. 147. I think you would change your mind if you sat on a Board ?—As a rule I go by the published reports of the Board meetings. 148. You are in favour of the centralization of the inspectorate ?—Yes. 149. With a view to leading up to the centralization of the teachers ?—With a view to the nationalization of the education system. 150. You see no difficulty in the way of transferring teachers more than is experienced in the other Departments of State—the Post and Telegraph or the Railway : I think you said that ?—Yes, that is so. 151. That teachers could be transferred just as easily '. —Yes. 152. Is it not a fact that the work in the Railway Department or the Post and Telegraph Department is of such a technical character, and is so conducted on the same lines all through the service, that there is no great difficulty in sending a man from one station to another—his work would be practically the same ? —I presume that is to a large extent true, but lam not acquainted with the conditions of those services. 153. Would you say that of the teaching profession ?—Yes, or it ought to be so. 154. You say that a man in a Grade IV school in a town would be quite capable of taking up the duties in a Grade V country school in which he has had no experience whatever ?—We have all got to learn experience of our new places. If he is a qualified teacher, and has been given the necessary grading by his Inspectors, that ought to be the evidence of his fitness. 155. Is there not a demand for special qualifications in special schools ?—That is becoming more pronounced as time goes on. That is so. Would not national classification tend to destroy that altogether ?—- We hope not. You are not afraid that that will be the tendency ?—No ; I think it will lead to a vitalizing of the whole system. 158. Supposing that the Boards still exist and are not wiped out, why do you ask for the municipal franchise for the Board elections ?—To tell you the truth, I presented to you a resolution passed by a meeting, but I fail to see the reason myself. I can only say that it is hoped thereby there will be a more representative membership on the Board than is at present the case. 159. With regard to appointments, you say that the Institute suggests the addition of the following to clause 67 : " In any case where the alteration of the grading of a position would result in the promotion of any teacher above another senior to nim and equally efficient " —that is, you would not give any teacher in any school a prior right to promotion in that school over others ?—That is so. 160. Even though it might be his due ? —lf it is his due another has not a prior right. 161. He may have a prior right from seniority ?—We want as little weight attached to seniority as possible. In the scheme that we submitted to the Department recently we asked that the relative values attached to efficiency and service should be as 7 to 1, so that efficiency should " rule the roost " almost wholly. And that 7to 1 was the considered estimate of the whole Institute—that is to say, it was suggested as a basis by the executive, and was referred to the District Institutes and approved by them all. 162. Are you not aware of the fact that under the administration of affairs by some Boards assistant masters cannot get the headmastership of their own school ?—I think it is a rule here. lam aware that it is so under some Boards. Mr. Hogben : It is in the present Act—-unless the position is thrown open. Witness : And it is provided in the present Bill that the assistant shall not be transferred to the position. , 163. Mr. Guthrie.] Has your Institute considered that aspect of affairs—that a first assistant is debarred from being an applicant for the headmastership ?—He is not debarred from becoming an applicant. Mr. Hogben : It must be thrown open. He cannot be transferred unless it is thrown open. Witness: The question was raised at our special meeting, but it was pointed out that it is not intended to bar the first assistant from applying; it is intended to prevent him from being transferred without competition. That is the point. That is all we ask for. We ask that all be treated alike. 164. Mr. Guthrie.] Are you not aware that in the interests # of the schools and the pupils the supervision of Committees is absolutely necessary >—-No, I am not. 165. Is it not for the good of the school ?- —I am aware that the assistance of a good Committee is a great help to a school. 166. Would you take from those Committees the power of suggestion to the Board that something is wrong with the teaching in the school ? Would you leave the Board to find out for themselves ?— I think the Board has its own officers to find out such things. 167. Are you aware that cases have occurred where the Committee have, by bringing under the Board's notice the action of teachers, done a great deal of good ?—Yes, I know that such cases have occurred. 168. Do you know of your own personal knowledge that there have been such cases ?—Yes, I think I can say that of my personal knowledge there have been such cases.