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FCOLWYN BAY TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION.

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FCOLWYN BAY TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION. ..U.T. PRESIDENT AND EDUCATIONAL I DEVELOPMENT. Under the auspiccs of the Colwyn Bay and District Teachers' Association an address oil the Education Act of 1918 v,as •given at the Church Room, on Saturday afternoon, by Miss .1;0, it. Conway, M.A.'j of Liverpool, President cf the ¡. ¡¡Lonal Union of Teasers. Miss li. Hovey, tB.A., Principal of Penrhos College, presided, and was supported on the platform by Mr JOil1 Jones, Mr Simon Williams, and Mr Sellings. Mr John Jones, on behalf of the Colwyn Bay Urban Council, extended a hearty welcome to Miss Conway on the occasion of her first public appearance in Colwyn Bay, and congratulated -her upon her election as President of the National Union of Teachers after having- ten- de rod valuable services for several years oil the executivo of the Union. Her year of ll,ict,' Would, no doubt, be looked upon as a red-ic-;er year by the teaching profession on account of the passing of the Education Act and H.e Teachers' Superannuitioti Act. Those who took all interest in education in Colwyn Bay felt titat they had now for the first time at the Board of Education a gentleman who was Undoubtedly a master of his craft, and that un- der the able guidance of Mr Fisher and n s splendid lieutenant, Mr Herbert Lewis, there Was a great futuij3 for the Education Act, Which promised to revolutionise education in this country. They must admit that in Colwyn Bay facilities for education were padiy ne- glected, particularly with regard to secondary education, but there were signs that matters Were coming to a head in that direction, and that in the very near future they would get What they had been longing for and agitated fcr-a first-class secondary school. As a town in general and as a Council in-particular ,hero .Was no doubt that they were in need of stirring fcp to their responsibilities. The day was not far distant, he hoped, when Colwyn Bay v. i.i:ld deceive its charter as a borough, when II ey Would manage their own educational affairs. The Chairman expressed the hope that the provisions of the Teachers' Superannuation Act .Would not be confined to schools aided by tlov- •rnmerit grants Penrhos College and Rvdal .-Mount were at present not eligible he d- Jantagee of the Superannuation Act. (i id hot receive grants from the Government, and Were not likely to, and it was not fair that the teachers should be penalised because (hey served in those schools. They realised that tho schools which had not been bound down by red »pe, ana particularly private schools, had been lable to make, many valuable experiments in the fast, which had been of benefit to education generally. Therefore, she hoped they would fill do what they could to secure that the Su- perannuation Act should be available to all teachers who could show satisfactory proof that they were qualified as teachers and that their Schools were efficient although not receiving Government grants or restricted in any way in their line of work. j EDUCATIONAL NEEDS OF THE I COUNTRY. Miss Conway prefaced her remarks by dec'ar. ing that in England and Wales there was not that interest in education which the engaged in it felt it demanded. Never had the work of educational reconstruction been so important as It was to-day. They had to face the makmg op of a good deal of leeway which they nad lost during the war, and they could congratu- late themselves that they had in Mr Fisher an Education Minister who knew his work, and Who, having been a teacher himself, was able J 0 realise the importance of his subject. She nought this was the first time in the ustorv Of education that they had had 41. President of Ihc Board of Education who really lyiew his Vork thoroughly. There was no doubt that .}fr Fisher was fired with enthusiasm for education, and realised that this country needed all the help that it could get from education if it was to keep its place among the nations of the orld. Miss Conway proceeded to deal with the different aspects of the new Education Act., 13he observed that in England and Wales they Were particularly weak in higher education this was probably because primary education .ad not hitherto given children the advantage of being able to go from one school to another tntil they reached the university. Miss Con- JWay quoted a statement by Lord Sydenham (o Ihe effect that many difficulties during the war ad arisen through there not being enough men •at the top" with a scientific education, and Che remarked that it was realised that there lad been muddles which might have been avert- ed by those responsible having a ]ogienl and clear conception of the task which they had to t perform. They wanted more knowledge of the right Itind, and to attaiii that there must be a development of secondary and university edu- cation, which was only possible under a mea- sure such as Mr Fisher's, which would give every boy and girl in the primary schools the opportunity of educational advancement if filey had the requisite ability. The people of this country must not be content with an education- al system which did not give every boy and girl a chance of realising what was in them. Another thing they "wanted was to train tho masses of the people so that they might realise who were their best leaders. They often found that the leaders of democracy were men disap- pointed and embittered by some accident, in their lives. What they wanted as leaders of democracy were men and women who were ablo to perceive what was best for the people, and go for it unselfishly and with true love of country, realising that the people behind 'hem would follow. To get men and women educated to that point they needed more extended eda- cation for everyone. Miss Conway went on to speak of the present shortage of teachers and the advisability of offering more adequate remuneration to • lioso engaged in the scholastic profession Mr Sellings, in proposing a vote of tblnks I) Miss Hovey for presiding and Miss Conway ior her address, said the local continuation classes, of the committee of which he was a member, had been carried on under some difficulty. The children attending the classes were engaged In shops and offices during the Jay, and although they were anxious to improve themseivts they could not be expected, when their minds i.-(ril thoroughly tired, to grasp the problems and lessons to which they had to a''dr?;8)hrnt selves. It was a great feature of the new Edu- cation Act that continuation clasuos had t) be conducted during the employers' hours, and it was an important step towards giving young people the encouragement which they deserved. With regard to the teachers, if they were ex- pected to take an interest in their work they should be sufficiently paid. Mr Purdy, in seconding the motion, ron- firmed, as chairman of the Evening fCon- tinuation Ciasses Committee, the remarks of Mr Sellings. The new Education Act would be a boon not only to the children, but also the parents and the country generally. With re- spect to mistakes during the war, he agreed that some were attributable to insufficient at- tention being paid to specialised education. Re- search work in this country was absolutely in- finitesimal. Money should be allocated by the Government for research work. Miss Conway,replying to a question put by Mr Purdy, stated that compulsory continuation classes had to be held before seven o'clock, but other classes might be conducted in the even- ing. The Chairman appealed to atf present to do what they could to support the Urban Coun- cil and others in Colwyn Bay working for the welfare of the town. One of the things most needed was a secondary school for which they had been struggling for many years. Some place was also needed where young people could spend their leisure time. At present, there was no such institution except the Com- rades' Club, a small club recently formed which was a great advantage to the town. It was becoming increasingly important that boys and girls over 16 should have somewhere to go to. CoIwyn Bay had schemes in hand for tho 'u- ture, and proper provision should be made for young people after they had left school. The Comrades' Club, at which there was a daily attendance of from 120 to 200, was admirably managed, but the premises were inadequate, and public assistance should be forthcoming. Everyone should realise that it wa-s to the credit of the town as well as for the welfare of the boys and girls that something should be done in the matter, and that it should not be left to a few individuals. The police stated that the streets had been much better since the Comrades' Club was opened. On the proposal of Mr J. W. Griffiths sec- onded by Mr J. H. Roberts, Messrs John Jones and Simon Williams were thanked for attend- ing the meeting a? representatives of the Ur- ban Council.

BEEKEEPING IN THE V ALE OF…

RUTHIN'S NEW WORK-1 HOUSE…

VISITOR DROWNED ATI BETTWSYCOED.

CORWEN TO BETTWSYCOEDI RAILWAY.

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