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Education iDepartmennt! i
Annual Rlepor t.
AN ALL-ROUND ADVAN?.E.
The report of the Education Depar-!
ment for 1914 has boeen circulated, and
records a year of stcady progress and
development. Tile following conpara
tive statistics are given:- -
SchiooL Net Teachers
Year. Open. Enr'l'm't. (all ranks).
1910 .... 390 .27,820 804
1911 .... 399 28,821 816
1912 .... 419 29,206 847
1913 .... 448 30,218 899
1914 .... 457 31,001 040
The problem of maintaining an adequate
supply of teachers to meet the increased
enrolment was fairly met, the report sets
out, by the output from the Training
School and East Launceston Practising
School until the outbreak of war, when a
large niumber of male teachers enlisted.
The cxcellen; e of the braining work done
at the East Launceston Training School
is acknowledged. The number of sub
sidised schools increased fronm 40, in 1913
to 51 in 1914, and 8SS children benefited
by the scheme. Medical inspection has
been extended' by the appointment of
two additional full-time inspectors, and
it is anticipated that every pupil will now
come under observation at least once in
every two years. Apart from the chil
dren of Hobart and Launceston who
came under medical observation weekly,
9074 children were individually examined
in the course of the year. and parents
were advised of any serious defects re
iquiring medical attention. It is pro.
posed during the coming year to extend
the privileges of medical inspection to
the pupils of private primary schools
where the teacher makes application for
it. The Director suggests the appoint
ment, when funds permnit, of school den
tists to cope with the unsatisfactory
state of children's teeth.
INSPECTION OF SCHOOLS.
The reports of the various inspectors
show that the teachers as a body havel
worked well in their schools. General-.
Ily speaking, the remarks on orgasnisa
tion are of a pleasing character. In
many parts the teachers endeavour to
make the schoolrooms bright and at
tractive by means of flowers, pot-plants,
and well-selected pictures, and to bring
realism into their teaching by providing
suitable aids. At the close of the year
350 schools were re.ported as having
libraries, with a total number of 43,257
volumes, besides 1802 magazines. The'
general discipline of the schools is favour
ably reported iupon, and the efforts of
the teachers to inculcate habits of order,
neatness, obedience, self-reliance, indus.
try, and cheerfulness, and to mould the
Smanners of the children, receive well
merited recognition. The revival of in
terest in nature study which followed
I upon the appointment of IMr. W. J. P.
I Burton as organising teacher in this sub
ject - has been well maintained in the
Training College and the Hobart schools,
and has been extended to the Launces- v'
ton schools, where he spent three months ti
in lecturing, teaching, and organising the c,
work. Swimminig received systematic sc
attention in 30 schools. Altogether
2151 childron and 24 teachers took part
mI the swimming lessons. Of those, t,
1422 are able to swim, 023 having learnt Sr
:o do ^o during the past sesaon. a
MANUAL TRAINING. c
Apart from needlework and drawing, f:
var.ious forms of manual work are prac- t]
tised in the schools. In nost of theml ii
either gardening, modelling, paper-fold- rl
ill, cardboard work, or chip-carving are a
Ltught with some success. In addition. if
two woodwork and live cookery schools p
were in operation during the year. In a
Hobart 269 boys completed a portion of t
tile course in wood, and 10 tile course inl C
ironwnr!. At the Lunelle ton school C
264 pupils were enrolled, and completed t
a portion of the course in wood. In- e
struction in primary cookery was given s
at lIobart (215 pupils), Launceston d
(115), Deloralne (70), Latrobe (19), Bea- r
consfield (27), and Zeehan (03), and 151 p
of these pupils received certificates. Oral '1
lnstrtlction and dcmnonstraton on the ¶1
blackboard and on frames now form imn- I
portant features m the teaching ot C
needlework, amd in tile higher cILases the I
girls are trained to darn and mend, to (
cut out and tack the simpler garmemnts, .1
and to make them with the sewing ma- J
chine. o
SECONDARY EDUCATION.
The enrolment In the various classes of (
th,: State High Schools for the year is- t
Hobart-First year, 113; second year,
74; third year. 35; fourth year, 0. Laoun
ceston-First year, 111; second year, 65; I
third year, 10; fourth year, 0-Total, I
400. The number of teachers was 17, 1
of whom seven were graduates. Both I
schools, espeeially the Launceston school,
were hampered in their work by reason I
of limited and unsuitable accommoda- :
tion, but it is very gratifying to record a
that these disadvantages will soon be t
overcome by the erection of commodious (
and modern buildings. Tile course of I
study covers a period of four years. In t
December last the schools, having been %
in operation for two years, reached the r
intermediate stage. Of the 114 pupils 1
then on the rolls who had completed the r
second-year-course, 109 competed for tile
certificate and 01 were successful in l
gaining it; SO of tlhem satislied all con- I
ditions l'quired for a pass at the junior 1
public examination. In the annual re
port for last year attention was drawn o
to the scant provision made to enable t
country children to obtain the educa
tional advantages of tile city. At the I
present time .the scholarship board has i
an income approximating £1000 per an
nurn derived from public prope?rty. Dur
ing the past two years 15 out of 25 echo
larships awarded by the board have been
won by children attending the state pri
mary schools. Yet these children are
not allowed-to hold them at the State
High Schools, and must therefore attend
private secondary schools iP they wIts
to retain what they have won in com
petition. In considering any sugges
tion for the increase in the number of
scholarships, and. for the remedy of the
anomalous position mentioned above, it
is assumed that the State High Schools
will be expected to compete successfully
with private schools at the public ex
aminations, and the.marked success that
they have already achieved seems more
than a fair guarantee that they will do
so. Nevertheless, if it is decided that
scholarships or busaries may be held at
private as well as State High Schools, it
would be a fair measlre of protection to
the finances of tile state, and also to the
existing high schlools, to provide either
that scholarships won by state school
children shall be tenable only at State
High Schools, or that the distribution
of scholarships between State High and
private schools shall be made on a basis
of enrolment. Othlerwise all the bright
est intellects of the state primary schools
may pass over to the control of private
enterprise, to compete later on with the
second beat in the State High Schools.
In this connection it is to be observed
that the enrolment 111 state primary
schools last year was 34.,02, and the
total enrolment in private schools (pri
mary and secondary) was 6881.
But any scheme that provides less
than 300 scholarships for country chil
dren calnnot reach all pupils who qualify
.for, and desire admission to, a high
school. Seeing that the movement in
r state secondary education has so far
Sproved successful, the Minister considers
- that the time is ripe for expansion, and '
S1a?4 determined that, should circumstan '
ces he favourable, intermediate high
schools shall be established in January,
1916, in country centros where there are
25 pupils who have passed the qualify
ing certificate examination, provided that
a the parents of such pupils will guarantee
I, to keep themo at school for two years. A
splcial composite course will be arrang
ed to meet their needs. At the end of
this period those pupils who have com
plied with all the prescribed conditions
will be eligible for the intermediate ccr- f d
tificate and for admisrsion to the higher p
courses in the Hobart and Launccston'1'
schools for a further period of two years. e
SCOO1100L A'I NDANCE. Ic
It is very gratifying, Lays the Director, tl
to be able to report a further improve- al
ment in the attendance of pupils. As i
a general rule the attainment of 85 per 11
cent. may be considered as very satis- IL
factory. Of the I04 schools that rebchea I'
this percentage, the majority are happy Pi
in having teachers who not only fully Ib
realise tile importance of regular attend. h'
ance, but who exert themselves to obtain d'
it; inll most cases such schools were re- in
ported by the inspector as both eflicietl
and popular. Special attention is drawn
to the excellent records of the South
Queenstown, slathinna. and Blrn.xlolmr
schoolJ . Ini ch '..i C the average atl
tendance exceeds 100, and the percentage
exceeds i0. Considering all the cire-uni
.tance, -the undermentioned schools also
deserve special mention for their good
records:-Goulburn-street, Charles-street, s
Beaconfield, Adventure Bay, Campbell a1
Town. Cleveland. Epping, Dellerive, Irish t
T-jown. \larrawsvl, Balfour, \V:st Devon. s
port, Maidstone, English lTown, Fingal, v
Gray, Mangan., St. MIirys, Lefroy. Pipers a
Ris r, Lower T'urners Marli, Swansca, f
Crotty, Gormanston, Pelham, IBraeside,
Judds Creek, Franklin, Nook, lMargate,
Tinderbox Bay, Loorana, Sprent, Gol- i
conda, Swan Bay, Illawarra, Pateena,
Mount Lloyd, Tunbridge, Whitefoord,
Cradoc Iill, Goulds Country, Queens.
town, New River, Derby, Toronna, ]loss,
Springfield, Ravenswood, White Hills,
Strahan, Boat Harbour, Elliott, Calder
Road, Henrietta, Black Sugarloaf, Brack
nell, Frankford, Westwood, Dundas, Tul.
lah. Williamsford, West Zeehan, andl
East Zeehan.
The total number of children enrolled
for the year was 35,310, but of these
3709, through removal and other causes,
attended more than one state school, so
that the number of individual children
on the rolls was 31,601, an increase of
1383 over tile flgures for 1913. The
total average attendance for the year
was 22,5S1, an increase of 1107 over the 1
average for 1913. The average month
ly enrolment for the year was 27,91:3,
and the average daily attendance 22,581,
so that the percenta:ge is SO, as againist
7S for last year. Since June last, in
order to bring the attendance of all I
school cllhildren under review, forms for
reporting irregular attendance have been
sent to all teachers in charge of schools I
throughout the stata, teachers of other
than state schools being requested to '
furni.ish returns of irregular attendance
monthly (at least) to boards of advice,
and quarterly to this department-as is
done regularly by all teachers of state
schools. If these returns are duly sent
in, it will assist the department in fur
thering the itentnton of the act that all
children in the state who are of school
age shall be "regularly" instructed. In
many cases the work of the teacher is
ably seconded by the mnembers of the
board who -take a personal interest in
the school or schools in their particular
district. All of the schools under tih
Zechan (8), Queenstown (3), Spring Bay
(3), Waratah (3), Glamorgan (2), and
Strahan (1) boards exceeded S0 per cent.
Most of the schools in the municipali
- ties of Launceston (0),'Clarence (6), Cir
cular Head (12), Devonport (7), Fingal
(12), George Town (4), Gormanston (4),
IHuon (12). Ontlands (15), Ringarooma
S(14), and Westbury (14) also reached
80 per cent. Attention is drawn to the
unsatisfactory attendance in many of
the schools in the municipalities of Glen
orcliy (6), Ou-ren Ponds (5), L?alobe (7),
Leven (13), New Norfolk (13), Penguin
(8), Richmond (8), and Scroll (10). It
is hoped that determined and systematic
efforts will be made to improve this un.
satisfactory state of affairs.
SCHOOL, BUILDINGS AND
FURNITURE.
Considerable activity was sholvn in con
nection with the erection of now schools
and the remodelling of old buildings.
The most important remodelling works
were carried out at Scottsdale, Sheffield,
Penguin, Invermay, Southbridge, M.n
thinna, Queenstown, and Wrest Devon
port. New and up-to-date schoolrooms
I were erected at Albuera-street, Plenty,
Stanley, Wynyard, Tatana, Pioneer, Coo
ce, and Panelagh. -In spite of the large
expenditure of the past three years,
much remains to be done to meet the
pressing demands of an increasing enrol
ment, and to bring old buildings into
line with modern requirements in re
, spect to lighting and ventilation. Early
in the year two open-air classroom., ac
ecomnodating 50 pupils eaclh, were erect
ed in th(e grounds of the Chanrles-streetr
State School. The cost was less than ,
one-third of the cost of an ordinary
classroom. Even in cold wea.
a ther both teachers and the chil
dren preferred these rooms to
the ordinary schoolroom. The per
Scoentage of attendance in the classes was
very high, and the children were practic
ally immune from sickness and colds.
But some well-meaning but ill-informed
persons created a scare in regard to the
'building, yclept by therm the "freezing
irorks," and the department installed
stoves, which brought colds and other
ills in their train. The substitiution of
modern school furniture for the old back
less forms and long desks proceeded stea,.
dily to the limit of the funds voted by
Parliament.
GENEItAL.
The result of a direct departmentxl
appeal to the oficers, teachers, and chil
dren of the schools on behalf of the
patriotic and IHed Cross funds was £145?8
14s lld. Numbers of schools have given
entertainments and otherwise assisted
local funds in addition. In many of
the schools bandages, shirts, .ocks, caps,
and other nccaessriec and comforts were
made for our boys at the front; the
H1obart and Launceston schools alone
ruade 800 flannel shirts in a fortnight.
In addition, subscriptions and large sup
plies of clothing have been forwarded
Iby individual cehools to the Belgian re.
Ihef funds through local agencies. Thus
does the spirit of patriotism that per
melates our schools lind expression.
$