The position today is that the Department of Education is at the centre of the administrative pattern, with district education boards and school committees looking after the local interests of primary, intermediate, and district high schools, and boards of governors, boards of managers, and post-primary school councils administering post-primary schools and technical institutes at the local level. Pre-school education is administered by local associations and committees, all of which are affiliated to their own national organisations.
The Department of Education, a Department of State under the control of the Minister of Education, is charged with the administration of the Education Act of 1964 and its amendments and the regulations made under the Act. All expenditure on public, primary, and post-primary education, except for a very small amount of endowment income, is from funds provided by the central Government through the Department. The amounts of the grants to the local boards for maintenance of buildings, administrative expenses, and the like are, in general, determined by regulations. In the case of grants for the salaries of teachers, these are determined in part by the regulations and in part by orders under the Government Service Tribunal Act 1948.
The Department is responsible for the inspection of all State schools and of registered private schools, and for the assessment and classification of teachers in public schools; and it employs a staff of inspectors for the purpose. It has under its direct control teachers in Maori schools and in the Correspondence Schools but not those in ordinary primary and post-primary schools, who are the employees of the local authorities. It controls also the Child Welfare Division (under the Child Welfare Act 1925), and the Vocational Guidance Service. In addition to the teachers and officers just mentioned, and to its administrative and clerical staff, the Department employs groups of specialist officers concerned with physical education, art and crafts, school publications, special and remedial education, and the like. Through its inspectors and professional officers, the Department offers teachers help and guidance on all school problems.
The Department has very wide functions that extend over all levels of education from the kindergartens, to the universities and over private as well as public institutions. It shares administrative responsibilities with other statutory bodies including the university authorities, primary and post-primary school boards, and with many voluntary agencies. In addition to administering the provisions under which grants are made to other authorities, the Department
is responsible for the inspection of all State and registered private schools, and for the assessment (or grading) of teachers;
takes the major responsibility for the recruitment of teachers, regulates their training, issues teachers' certificates, exercises a measure of control over appointments, and carries out a wide range of duties concerned with staffing, salaries, superannuation, and the like;
issues syllabuses of instruction for schools, and conducts examinations (e.g., the School Certificate Examination);
makes recommendations to Government for educational buildings, including university buildings, shares in the responsibility for the operation of the approved programme, checks plans, and prepares codes of practice for primary and post-primary buildings and briefings for special buildings (e.g., a teachers' college);
authorises school conveyance systems proposed by the boards, and provides and maintains a school bus fleet of its own;
awards bursaries and boarding allowances;
publishes the Education Gazette, Education (a magazine for teachers), and a range of textbooks and brochures for schools;
carries out the functions vested in the Child Welfare Division, and directly controls the Maori schools, the Correspondence School, the Technical Correspondence Institute, the National Film Library, vocational guidance centres, a psychological service, an in-service training centre for teachers, some special schools, and certain specialist services (e.g., a physical education service);
conducts in-service training courses, and offers teachers help and guidance on all school problems through the inspectors and other officers;
provides services for schools in the Pacific Islands and engages in international cooperation in education within the framework of UNESCO and other agencies;
advises the Government on policy matters, ranging from the care of intellectually handicapped children to the development of senior technical work, and on legislation concerned with education.
The basic organisation of the Department of Education is shown in the plan. There is also a table showing the total number of people employed in the State education service. Not all however, are employed directly by the State, and the great majority of the teachers (for instance) are employed by local education authorities in the form of education boards or boards of governors. Both plan and table give an appreciation of the size of the service and of the relative numerical distribution of teachers and administrative officers of various types and levels of seniority and responsibility.
The Director of Education has two assistant directors to help him in carrying out his responsibilities as permanent head of the Department of Education. One is concerned mainly with professional matters and the other with administrative. The Assistant Director (Professional) has three senior officers of chief inspector status responsible to him — the Chief Inspector of Primary Schools, the Chief Inspector of Post-primary Schools, and the Superintendent of Technical Education. Together they control the inspection of schools and various specialist services, and they are particularly concerned with such professional matters as the development of the curriculum and teacher training. Under the chief inspectors are the field inspectors stationed in the various centres, and the Vocational Guidance Service, the School Publications Branch, and Maori education.
Under the Act of 1964, which became effective on 1 August 1965, certain changes were made in the designation of the permanent head and senior offices of the Department of Education.
Old
Director
Assistant Director
Chief Inspector of Primary Schools
Chief Inspector of Post-primary Schools
Superintendent of Technical Education
Superintendent of Child Welfare
New
Director-General of Education
Assistant Directors-General (2)
Director of Primary Education
Director of Secondary Education
Director of Technical Education
Director of Child Welfare
On the administrative side, there are three broad groupings of the various services, each controlled by a chief executive officer: (a) general administration and finance; (b) administration of the regulations governing teachers' conditions of service, of examinations, and of school transport; and (c) school buildings administration and architectural services.
Each of these groups is staffed by a number of officers organised at various levels in sections and divisions. Their duties, in almost all cases, involve close liaison between the professional and administrative sides of the Department. A similar general pattern of organisation is followed in the Department's regional offices at Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch, each of which is under the control of a regional superintendent.
Linked to the Department, but not closely related structurally, is the National Library Service. Although the National Library Service was established as a branch of the Department, it operates under Cabinet directive as a separate functional unit with direct access to Government and other Departments of State.
The 10 district education boards in New Zealand are responsible for the establishment, control, and management of public primary schools within their districts, including the provision of school buildings and other services. They are also responsible for the establishment and operation of district high schools, which are public primary schools with secondary departments attached; for the management and control of teachers' training colleges, and for the selection of students for entry to these colleges. Board members are elected by the school committees of the public primary schools within their education district. Boards' staff are employed under conditions of service laid down by regulations. The funds of education boards are derived from grants distributed by the Department of Education. The State also subsidises funds raised in the local community for extra amenities for schools.
School committees are responsible, subject to the general direction of the education board of the district, for the day-to-day management of the buildings and grounds of the public primary schools. The committees derive their funds from moneys granted by the education boards for their general expenses and for any special purposes, and from donations and other moneys raised voluntarily in the community for the purpose of providing extra school amenities. Funds raised in this latter way are generally subsidised by the State. The committees are elected by householders of the school district concerned.
State post-primary schools are, either individually or in groups, under the management and control of boards set up for the purpose in accordance with the legislation. In general, the boards are composed of representatives of parents, the education boards, and local authorities and organisations having an interest in the work of the school; but the general trend is for a greater proportion of parent representation. The choice of constitution is largely determined by the wishes of the local community. The funds required for the establishment, control, and management of these schools are derived from grants distributed by the Department of Education. Post-primary school boards employ their own administrative staff under their own terms and conditions.
The New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI), is a professional organisation of teachers inaugurated in 1883 by the merger of district institutes of teachers, some of which had been in existence since 1864. Its importance was recognised in 1895 by the Public School Teachers' Incorporation and Court of Appeal Act. The institute and each of its branches are registered under Part VI of the Education Act of 1964. The primary object of the institute is to advance the cause of education generally, in the main by pursuing lines of policy designed to serve the best interests of the children of the country. The necessary corollary of this primary object is a reasonable remuneration for all teachers, security of tenure, leave of absence, and a just appointments system. These aims are expressed in the institute's second object: “to uphold and maintain the just claims of its members individually and collectively”.
The corporate life of the profession is organised by the institute through a closely knit structure, extending from school staff, branches, district committees, and the Dominion executive, to the annual meeting which is its supreme court, or parliament. The institute has its representatives on many sub-committees: teachers' appointments, curriculum revision, in-service training, road safety, school broadcasting, salaries, and superannuation, to mention a few.
The institute, conscious of its obligations as a professional body, has adopted a “code of ethics”. With a membership of more than 11,000, it is the largest professional organisation in New Zealand. It is the recognised mouthpiece of the primary school teachers, and it also includes in its membership a large number of teachers in post-primary schools and teachers' colleges. The institute publishes a monthly magazine National Education, and the construction of its modern seven-storey office building, Education House, at Wellington, is expected to be completed before the end of 1966.
Founded in 1888, the Secondary Schools' Conference brought together for the first time the heads and assistants of New Zealand high schools. Successive changes in secondary education produced alterations in the organisation's title and membership until 1951 when the present Post-primary Teachers' Association arose from the union of interests of teachers in the technical and other secondary schools.
With a current membership of nearly 5,600, the association speaks for the overwhelming majority of full-time teachers in the country's secondary system. A national executive, served by a small administrative staff, deals with an immense variety of teacher concerns and problems. Policy is forged at annual conferences attended by delegates from each branch, a branch consisting of the staff of an individual school. The association and its predecessors have had much to say on educational policy. Since 1920, for instance, it has been engaged in formal national salary negotiations. Further, there has been continuous activity in a great number of other matters of vital educational importance, including: technical education, Maori education, high ability pupils, slow learners, delinquency, television, agricultural education, standards and prescriptions for individual subjects, examination organisation and policy, the intermediate school system, personal teacher problems and rights, teacher grading and inspection, regulations, building standards, and literally scores of other matters of concern to teachers and pupils. The association publishes a monthly magazine, The Journal.
This statement shows the number of persons employed in the State Education Service as at 30 September 1963. The figures have been derived from a variety of sources and some “rounding-off” and adjustments have been necessary. Since 30 September 1963 there have been substantial increases in the teaching force.
| (Later figures not available by May 1965) | |||
| Summary | |||
| Employed by | Totals | ||
| Commission or Department | Board or Controlling Authorities | ||
| Pre-school teachers and specialists | 5 | 478 | 483 |
| Primary teachers and specialists | 166 | 13,103 | 13,269 |
| Post-primary teachers (including Vocational Guidance Officers | 49 | 6,437 | 6,486 |
| Maori school teachers | 450 | .. | 450 |
| Correspondence schools teachers | 263 | .. | 263 |
| University teachers (full and part time) | .. | 1,374 | 1,374 |
| Inspectors (all) | 152 | .. | 152 |
| Teacher college staff (all) | .. | 349 | 349 |
| Teacher trainees (all) | .. | 6,578 | 6,578 |
| Child Welfare (whole staff) | 922 | .. | 922 |
| National Library Service (whole staff) | 250 | .. | 250 |
| Adult education (full-time) | .. | 61 | 61 |
| Administration: Clerical and other services in Wellington and other centres | 737 | 5,175 | 5,912 |
| 2,994 | 33,555 | 36,549 |
by Harvey Egdell, B.COM., Chief Executive Officer (Administration), Department of Education, Wellington.