On completion of the two-year college course, a student may, if his academic and professional work are of a good standard, be selected to spend a third year at a teachers' college, in lieu of the probationary year, in order to pursue specialised study in speech therapy or music. In 1965, 130 students have been selected under the new Teachers' University Studentship scheme for full-time university study before they begin their professional studies, after their first year at a teachers' college, or at the end of their college course. Until recently third-year specialist studies were also available in art and crafts, physical education and nature study as preparation for itinerant work in the schools, and in the education of the deaf as preparation for teaching in one of the schools for the deaf. Now, however, applications are invited from teachers with a few years' experience to undertake specialist courses of training lasting two terms in physical education, art and crafts, and education of the deaf. The traditional third-year courses of training in these subjects and in nature study have been discontinued.

Candidates for entry to the two-year teachers' college course for primary teachers must possess the Endorsed School Certificate Examination or, preferably, possess some higher academic qualification. Of the 1965 entrants 55 per cent had University Entrance or a higher qualification. The minimum age for admission to training is usually 17 to 18 years, although numbers of candidates are older than this. The two-year training course is followed by a year's teaching as a probationary assistant in charge of a small class in a public primary school under the supervision of the head teacher and one of the district inspectors. The course can, however, be extended to a third year at a teachers' college for specialised study in music, speech therapy, or university work. From 1965 opportunities for full-time university work for primary trainees in particular were improved by the introduction of a new Teachers' University Studentship under which selected trainees may have a total of up to three years of full-time university study before, during, or after their professional studies at a teachers' college. The two-year college course for primary teachers covers the following compulsory studies: spoken and written English; education and the principles and practice of teaching, including studies and related practical training in child development, with special reference to either the five- to eight-year age group, or the eight- to 13–year age group; the organisation, social life, curriculum, and methods of the primary and intermediate school, with special reference to either the class range Primers to Standard 2, or the class range Standard 2 to Form II; physical education and health education; and music.

In addition, a student is required to pass in four optional studies (“credits”) selected from English literature, history, geography, science, mathematics, art and crafts, physical education, and music (the last two at a more advanced level than in the compulsory studies listed above). Other credit courses can, with the Director's approval, be offered. Passes in units for university degrees can be recognised as credits.

In their second year, students specialise in either junior or senior class teaching. It is in the “credit” studies, however, that the greatest flexibility is introduced into the course. Students with good academic qualifications and ability are encouraged to undertake university studies, lecture fees being paid by the Department of Education.

The student must satisfy the principal that he has reached a satisfactory minimum standard in those of the optional subjects — history, geography, science, art and crafts, and mathematics — that are not being taken as credit courses. There are at least 400 hours of practical training including child study, observation in schools, and practice in teaching. For this work each college has associated with it normal schools and “model” schools. Most of the model schools are organised on the lines of small country schools.

The normal schools and model schools are under the control of the principal. They are, in the main, demonstration schools. Students have their own practical teaching when they are posted to the classrooms of associate teachers in ordinary primary schools for periods of a month or six weeks.

Each college is staffed on the basis of one lecturer to about 16 students (the principal and vice-principal are excluded from the calculation). There are principal lecturers and senior lecturers. Appointments are recommended to the Education Board by a special appointments committee. The appointment of principals and vice-principals requires the approval of the Minister of Education.

Traditionally there was little, if any, special provision for the training of post-primary teachers. About 25 years ago small groups of graduates were admitted to the teachers' training colleges for a one-year course in post-primary teaching. In 1944 post-primary graduate teacher training was concentrated on a special post-primary department at the Auckland Teachers' College, and in 1954 a similar department was established at the Christchurch Teachers' College. In 1964 the post-primary department in Auckland was given the status of an independent teachers' college under its own principal.

A young person wishing to qualify as a graduate post-primary teacher normally completes two years in the sixth form at a post-primary school and attends university full-time on a post-primary teacher studentship. Under this scheme he has his fees paid and receives allowances which are generous enough to enable him to be economically independent. Post-primary teacher bursaries (of less value than studentships) are available to pupils who have had only one year in the sixth form and who wish to take a university diploma course in physical education, home science, or fine arts. Holders of post-primary studentships and bursaries are attached to the nearest teachers' college in a university centre, and receive guidance and supervision with their courses from specially appointed members of the college staff.

On completing his university course, the holder of a studentship or bursary enters the graduate post-primary course at Auckland Post-primary Teachers' College or Christchurch Teachers' College for a one-year course of teacher training (related to the subjects taken in the university course-e.g., arts, mathematics/science, home science, physical education, fine arts, or music). At the present time considerable numbers of students are permitted to enter the one-year post-primary course with incomplete degrees, and they continue their university studies concurrently with their college course. Graduates or near-graduates who have not been holders of a post-primary studentship or bursary are also accepted for the post-primary one-year course immediately following their university course or direct from some other occupation.

The teachers' college programme covers: general studies in education; principles and practice of teaching; practical and theoretical aspects of the teaching of the student's special subjects and related subjects; study of aims and teaching methods for other subjects of the post-primary curriculum; and study of subjects of general value to all post-primary teachers (e.g., music, art, physical education). The student also spends about one-third of his time in supervised observation and practice-teaching in post-primary schools.

On completing the post-primary teacher-training course, the young teacher is free to take up a permanent position in a post-primary school. He is paid on the teachers' salary scales immediately but is not certificated until the end of his first year of teaching.

Non-graduate training courses are run in a number of specialist subjects. Some of these are for pupils leaving post-primary school and some are for adults wishing to enter post-primary teaching from industry or commerce. Girls who have had at least one year in the sixth form may enter a two-year course for commercial teacher-training at Auckland, or a two-year course for mathematics and science teacher-training at Auckland and Christchurch. On completion of either of these courses, the trainee serves for a year as a probationary assistant in a post-primary school before being awarded a specialist-teacher certificate in the case of commercial teachers, and a trained teachers' certificate in the case of mathematics/science teachers. For girls who have been awarded University Entrance or Endorsed School Certificate or who wish to become homecraft teachers (preferably at the Form I-II level) a two-year teachers' college course, followed by a one-year probationary assistantship, is available at the Auckland Post-primary and Dunedin Teachers' Colleges. Those completing this course are given specialist-teachers' certificates.

For adults with practical or academic qualifications related to the post-primary curriculum, there are various teacher-training courses. Experienced craftsmen are trained as teachers of woodwork or metalwork at Auckland Teachers' College, and teachers of woodwork at Christchurch Teachers' College. For experienced office workers wishing to enter teaching, there is a one-year course in the teaching of shorthand, typing, book-keeping, and commercial practice at the Wellington Polytechnic.

Two emergency courses are at present in operation: one (of one year's duration) in homecraft subjects, for single women, at the Christchurch Teachers' College; and short one-term courses at selected post-primary schools for graduates over 25 years of age who are paid teachers' salaries from the time they start training.

In 1964 the numbers of trainees in the various post-primary teacher training courses (except the one-term emergency courses for older graduates) were:

In 1965 there were nine teachers' training colleges in New Zealand. Two of them (Dunedin and Christ-church) had been established just prior to the passing of the Education Act of 1877. By 1881 colleges had also been opened at Wellington and Auckland. Each of the four colleges had an attached normal school. For many years trainees had to pay their own expenses, and the main avenue of entrance to teaching was through the pupil-teacher system (in effect a form of apprenticeship).

The rapidly increasing school population and the consequent need for more teachers after the Second World War led to the opening of five more teachers' colleges: Ardmore (fully residential – 1948), Palmerston North (1956), Hamilton (1960), and North Shore (Auckland) (1963); and (in 1964) the post-primary department of the Auckland Teachers' College became an independent institution — the Auckland Post-primary Teachers' College. The rolls at all colleges have increased, and were in 1964:

These figures include 3,970 primary teacher-trainees and 721 post-primary teacher-trainees. In addition, there were some 1,739 trainees attached to the teachers' colleges but attending university fulltime to complete degrees and diplomas preparatory to undertaking the one-year course for post-primary teaching conducted at Auckland and Christchurch teachers' colleges. Thus, in 1964 there were 6,430 students holding teaching bursaries or studentships, or in receipt of allowances, who were at one stage or another of their training as teachers. (The comparable figure was about 1,400 in 1948.)

A variety of schemes of training is available for students who wish to prepare themselves for entry to the teaching service. Primary teachers are trained in a two-year course at a teachers' training college, followed by a year in a school as a probationary assistant. The two-year course for primary teachers is to be extended to three years in two colleges a year, starting with the intakes of the Hamilton and Dunedin Teachers' Colleges in 1966. Teachers enter the post-primary service in one of three ways: first, three, four, or five years' full-time academic study at a university and (usually) one year at a teachers' college for professional training; secondly, one or two years at a teachers' college studying to become a teacher of such subjects as homecraft, commerce, mathematics and science, woodwork, or metalwork followed (except for the courses in the last two subjects) by a probationary year in a school; and, thirdly, by transfer from the primary service or from some other occupation, the qualifications for which are relevant to post-primary teaching.

The Department of Education has long recognised that, in order to provide reasonable equality of opportunity in education, there is a need to give financial assistance to various categories of pupils and students at primary, secondary, and university levels. Over the last 20 to 25 years especially, there has been a considerable growth and extension of the system of allowances for school pupils and university students. In general, the basis of qualification for assistance has been widened and payments have been made increasingly generous.

Both at primary and at post-primary school level, assistance is made available principally to those who, living in relatively remote country areas, would be put to considerable expense in order to attend school. This assistance most commonly takes the form of a conveyance allowance which serves in part to meet the cost of travelling to and from school. In the case of post-primary pupils, it may be provided to enable pupils to travel to a more distant school for certain specified courses not available at a local post-primary school. If there is no suitable transport service available, the Department of Education pays a boarding allowance which helps to meet the cost of boarding at or near a post-primary school. As with the conveyance allowance, a boarding allowance may be granted to pupils wishing to take certain specified courses not offered at a local post-primary school. Similar allowances are granted annually to selected pupils of proved ability who wish to follow special courses.

Somewhat similar in principle are the secondary school bursaries. These are intended to enable country pupils to attend a post-primary school which is entitled to accredit its sixth form pupils for University Entrance, but, in order to qualify for such a bursary, pupils must already have passed the School Certificate Examination and thus have given reasonable evidence of their ability to profit by further education. Another bursary known as the technical bursary is available to pupils in the fifth form who would be obliged to live away from home in order to attend the nearest school offering technical courses in agriculture, art, building construction, engineering, shorthand, typing, and homecraft.

Maori boys and girls who cannot go to postprimary school without boarding away may qualify for special government boarding scholarships. The award is based on a competitive examination. Further, in necessitous cases, the Maori Education Foundation may also provide assistance for Maori children. Special bursary allowances for post-primary schooling (war bursaries) are available under certain conditions to those whose fathers were killed or disabled in service with the New Zealand Armed Forces.

It is at university level that the scholarship and bursary system is most developed. University scholarships are awarded on the results of the Entrance Scholarships Examination and are normally tenable for the minimum period in which a scholar, devoting his whole time to study, could complete his course. In addition to the scholarship moneys, they may carry an allowance for board or travel where applicable. Apart from these scholarships which are based on a highly competitive examination, there are also a number of educational bursaries awarded on the satisfactory completion of certain post-primary school courses. The most recent revision of this bursary system, made in 1962, provides for the following bursaries which are available for general university study: fees bursaries; fees and allowances bursaries; and masters' bursaries. Boarding allowances, associated with fees and allowances, and masters' bursaries, assist students who are obliged to live away from home.

There are, of course, various important conditions governing such matters as eligibility and tenure; for detailed information, reference should be made to the University Bursaries Regulations 1962. The following summary will, however, serve to illustrate the general purpose and nature of the bursaries.

1. Fees Bursary: This is, in general, available to all students who hold the University Entrance qualification or the Endorsed School Certificate. The bursary is tenable for the minimum period of time in which the student, pursuing his course full time, could complete that course. It provides for the payment of full tuition fees.

2. Fees and Allowances Bursary: This is available to students who have qualified for the Higher School Certificate. In addition, students who in their first year of tenure of a fees bursary have been credited with passes in three units of an arts or science degree or their equivalent may then become entitled to the fees and allowances bursary. The bursary provides for the payment of full tuition fees and a bursary allowance increasing from £40 in the first year to £100 in the fourth or any subsequent year. It is tenable for the minimum period required for the bachelor's course.

3. Master's Bursary: Students who have completed a bachelor's degree course in not more than one year in excess of the minimum period and who wish to take a master's degree may be awarded a master's bursary for this purpose. The bursary is awarded for one year, with provision for extension. The value is the same as for the fourth and subsequent years of the fees and allowances bursary.

The tenure of all these bursaries is dependent on the continued satisfactory progress of the student bursar, and there is provision in the regulations referred to above for suspension, reinstatement, and termination of any bursary.

All the above bursaries are available for whatever course of university study the student wishes to undertake, and no special obligation is laid on the student. There are, however, a large number of bursaries awarded for special vocational purposes and these usually require the student, on graduation, to give service with some government department or other organisation. In general, awards are competitive and are made by special selection committees. The principal bursaries in the category are:

Post-primary Teacher Studentships (Department of Education). These are granted annually to enable students to follow a university course leading to a degree suitable for post-primary teaching.

Post-primary Teacher Bursaries (Department of Education). These are awarded for courses leading to university diplomas suitable for post-primary teaching.

Medical and Dental Bursaries (Department of Health). These are awarded to selected students wishing to qualify as medical doctors or dentists as the case may be.

Dietetics and Physiotherapy Bursaries (Department of Health). These bursaries are intended to enable students to take the university courses to qualify as hospital dietitians or physiotherapists.

Public Service Study Awards (Public Service Commission). These awards are for full-time study, principally in agriculture, engineering, science and architecture. Selection is based commonly on the results gained in the Entrance Scholarships Examination or first year university examination results. The bursars are appointed to a government department and are required to render service on completion of their course. (The Post and Telegraph Department and New Zealand Railways also offer similar awards.)

In addition to the above awards, mention should be made of the veterinary science bursaries administered by the Veterinary Services Council, coal mining bursaries awarded by Mines Department, Internal Affairs arts bursaries, and special university scholarships for Maoris. Bursary assistance, covering tuition fees, is also provided for teachers who are taking single degree units part-time or extramurally.

by Harry Archibald Reeves, M.A., Senior Inspector, Department of Education, Wellington.

One of the most interesting features of the history of education in New Zealand has been the part played by the registered private schools. In the earliest years of the colony, education was almost entirely the concern of churches and private secular organisations, which were assisted by limited grants from public funds. When the provinces were established under the Constitution Act of 1852, the provincial councils assumed responsibility for education. Most of them tended at first to support the private school organisations already in existence in their areas, but by 1870 the beginnings of a public or State school system had also been established by them. The abolition of the provinces in 1876 obliged the Central Government to take over the responsibility for public education, and the Education Act of the next year set up what is, in effect, the present system of “free, compulsory, and secular” education. The same Act recognised private schools, to the extent that it accepted the education they provided as fulfilling the requirements for compulsory education.

The next 50 years saw rapid growth in the number of private schools throughout the country. The majority of the new schools were those of the Roman Catholic Church, but schools maintained by other denominations also grew in number, partly for the religious education they gave, and partly, too, to satisfy a demand among some groups for a more selective school than that which the State system normally provided.

The growth in the number of private post-primary schools in New Zealand has been steady. In 1960 there were 108 as against 54 in 1929, 28 in 1918, and less than a dozen in 1908. Most of them now have boarding establishments, and some are wholly residential. Two, Christ's College and Wanganui Collegiate School, are endowed schools modelled upon the English “public” schools. The distribution of post-primary schools among the various denominations, and the number of pupils attending in 1964 are shown in the following table:

In 1964 the great majority of the private primary schools were Roman Catholic schools, of which there were 274, catering for over 51,000 pupils. The remaining private primary schools comprised 54 church schools of other denominations, 11 undenominational schools, and two lower departments of secondary schools.

Measures are taken to ensure that private schools provide instruction which reaches the same minimum standards as those of the public schools. All of them are required to apply for registration, and they are subject to regular inspection by the Department of Education.

The first Roman Catholic secondary school in New Zealand for boys was St. Patrick's College, founded in Wellington in 1884, and later transferred, in part, to Silverstream. Other large Roman Catholic schools for boys include the Sacred Heart College, and St. Peter's and St. Paul's Colleges in Auckland; St. Patrick's College in Wellington; St. Bernard's College in Lower Hutt; St. Bede's and Xavier Colleges in Christchurch; St. Kevin's College in Oamaru, and the St. Paul's High School in Dunedin. Convent high schools for girls have been established in the principal cities, among the largest being the St. Mary's Colleges in Auckland and Wellington, the Sacred Heart Colleges in Hamilton, Wanganui, Lower Hutt, and Christchurch, and St. Philomena's College in Dunedin.

The three senior Church of England boys' schools are Christ's College (Christchurch), Wanganui Collegiate School, and King's College (Auckland). The first two date back to the early days of the colony. King's College was established much later as an Anglican boys' secondary school for Auckland. Largest of the established Anglican girls' schools are the Diocesan High School in Auckland, Marsden Collegiate School in Wellington, and St. Margaret's College in Christchurch.

The Presbyterian schools were all established after 1914. There are four large schools for boys — St. Andrew's College in Christchurch, St. Kentigern School in Auckland, Scot's College in Wellington, and John McGlashan College in Dunedin. The largest girls' schools with Presbyterian affiliations are Solway College in Masterton, Queen Margaret College in Wellington, Rangi-ruru Girls' School in Christchurch, and Columba College in Dunedin.

The largest of the other denominational schools is the Church School of New Zealand Latter Day Saints established in 1958 in Hamilton. The largest undenominational school is St. Cuthbert's College for Girls in Auckland.

by Horace William Sayers, M.A., DIP.ED., Senior Inspector (Post-primary), Department of Education, Wellington.

Among these are: The University of New Zealand, Beaglehole, J. C. (1937); The Intermediate Schools of New Zealand, Beeby, C. E. (1938); Entrance to the University, Thomas, W., Beeby, C. E., and Oram, M. H. (1939); The High Schools of New Zealand, Murdoch, J. H. (1943); The Control of Post-primary Schools, Campbell, A. E. (1948); Adult Education in New Zealand, Thompson, A. B. (1948); The District High Schools of New Zealand, Thom, A. H. (1950); The Consolidation of Rural Schools, Parkyn, G. W. (1952); Success and Failure at the University, Parkyn, G. W.(1959); and Origins of the Primary School Curriculum in New Zealand, Ewing, J. L. (1960); The Qualifications and Supply of Mathematics Teachers, Cull, M. A. (1960).

Studies of the educational problems of special groups of children:

These include: Educating Backward Children in New Zealand, Winterbourn, R. (1944); Vocations for Maori Youth, McQueen, H. C. (1945); Juvenile Delinquency in New Zealand, Phillipp, E. (1946); Some Modern Maoris, Beaglehole, E. and P. (1946); Children of High Intelligence, Parkyn, G. W. (1948); Bringing up Crippled Children, Kennedy, M. V., and Somerset, H. C. D. (1951); Caring for Intellectually Handicapped Children, Winterbourn, R. (1958).

Studies relevant to classroom practice:

In this section are: About Books for Children, White, D. N. (1946); The Teaching of English, Gordon, I. A. (1947); The Teaching of Mathematics in Post-primary Schools, Murdoch, J. H. (1950); How to Conduct a Reading Survey, Fieldhouse, A. E. (1957); The Teaching of Science in Post-primary Schools, Searle, E. J. (1959); Learning to Spell, Arvidson, G. L. (1960); and the supplementary volumes, Alphabetical Spelling Lists.

Miscellaneous studies:

These include: Reading; Film and Radio Tastes of High School Boys and Girls, Scott, W. J. (1947); George Hogben, Roth, H. (1952); and The Oldest Manuscripts in New Zealand, Taylor, D. M. (1955).

At present nearly 20 research projects are being carried out in various parts of New Zealand, and plans are being developed for an extension of the Council's staff and resources to cope with the greatly increased demand for educational information and research.

by George William Parkyn, M.A., DIP.ED., Director, New Zealand Council for Educational Research, Wellington.

The New Zealand Council for Educational Research is an independent research foundation established for the purpose of carrying out investigations into problems of education in New Zealand and of providing information and advice upon educational matters. The Council was constituted in 1933 by the Carnegie Corporation on the understanding that eventually it would be supported entirely from New Zealand sources. In 1945 the Council was given statutory recognition by the New Zealand Council for Education Research Act, and since then it has been supported by Government grants supplemented by donations from private sources.

The Council is an autonomous body of eight members. Six are elected by an electoral college consisting in the main of persons nominated by various educational organisations; one is appointed by the Governor-General; and one is co-opted. The Council maintains a permanent office and a small research staff. It is an independent organisation, not attached in any way to other institutions or Government Departments, and it values this independence as an essential safeguard of its ability to carry out studies of intricate educational problems with complete impartiality, and to publish freely the reports on its researches. The greater part of its research programme is carried out by part-time honorary research workers, who receive technical assistance from the full-time staff and whose research expenses are met by the Council.

More than 50 major educational reports have already been published, many of which have had considerable influence upon educational policy. The scope and nature of the work already accomplished can be seen from the following classified selection of reports.

The New Zealand Certificate in Engineering was introduced to provide a recognised qualification for technicians — that group which “can apply in a reasonable manner proven techniques which are commonly understood by those who are expert in a branch of engineering, or those techniques specially prescribed by professional engineers”. Moreover, in carrying out many of his duties, the technician will work under the competent supervision of skilled professional engineers.

Courses are available in civil, mechanical, electrical, telecommunications, refrigeration, and production engineering. These take five years' (part-time) study, the more advanced instruction being available only at the major technical colleges. Less advanced instruction is provided at most technical schools. School Certificate or an equivalent standard is required for entry to the course, but there is a subject-for-subject exemption (for first-year and some second-year subjects) in respect of subjects passed for School Certificate or University Entrance. Hence the duration of the course may be shortened where exemptions apply. Students are required to be employed in suitable engineering work while they are studying.

The number of students attending courses for the New Zealand Certificate in Engineering has multiplied enormously since the first enrolments in 1955, thereby demonstrating the reality of the need for courses of this kind.

Some of those who embark on the New Zealand Certificate course transfer to professional studies. A few do so before completing the certificate course, but this is believed to be ill advised, as the certificate courses are very well ordered and can provide a useful foundation for more advanced study. Candidates completing the certificate course with distinction may receive consideration for entry to the Bachelor of Engineering degree course, with certain credits for their prior studies, thus shortening the time spent full time at University.

by Percy Lyndon Laing, B.E.(CIVIL), M.I.C.E., Commissioner of Works, Wellington.

New Zealand legislation includes an Engineers Registration Act 1924 which is administered by the Engineers' Registration Board. This board adopts standards which are as nearly as possible those of the established engineering institutions. Candidates who satisfy the institution for associate membership may be regarded as assured of registration. This qualification is given brief notice although it is not a professional qualification.