AGY-6389 | Teachers Examination and Classification Committee

Full description

The Teachers Examination and Classification Committee reviewed and certified for the Director of the Department of Public Instruction/Department of Education that teachers, ex-students of a Departmental Teachers College, or any other person appointed to the NSW teaching system met the Department's standards.

Secondly, the Committee drafted Regulations under the Public Service Act, 1902 (Act No.31, 1902), and the Public Instruction Act, 1880 (Act 43 Vic. No.23), concerning teacher classification and examination.

Thirdly, the Committee oversaw examinations set by the Department of Public Instruction/Department of Education for teachers. It approved syllabuses, texts for study, and examination questions and considered appeals about results on a case by case basis.

Fourthly, the Committee looked at applications from individuals for exemption from the teacher examinations because of training and/or work experience outside of the Department's Teachers College: in New South Wales, other states or overseas. It also judged whether courses offered by other institutions were equivalent to the Department's examinations. (1)

Membership of the Committee was drawn from the Department, and the Chief Inspector's Branch in particular, although it did include a representative of Sydney Teachers College. Its membership included the Director of Education (occasionally), the Chief Inspector of Schools/Chief Inspector of Primary Schools (usually chairperson), the Deputy Chief Inspector, the Chief Examiner, the Examiner, and a representative of Sydney Teachers College. (2)

There were six classifications for teachers: classes 1, 2, 3 (with 1 as the highest and 3 as the lowest) which were each further subdivided into A and B. A seventh classification, 3C, was abolished on 1 July 1910. The classification was based on the teacher's efficiency as shown by their classroom work and also on their results in the in-service written, oral and practical examinations set by the Department. A teacher could improve their classification by passing the Department's exams, although they had to spend a certain period of time in each grade. (3) Held in locations across the State, the examinations occurred annually, initially on Easter Tuesday and later during the midwinter vacation.

Teachers had been classified by the Department and its predecessors since 1 July 1854. (4) From 1880 a teacher's classification determined the size of the school they could be in charge of, and the school's size governed their salary. The 1880 Annual Report for the newly formed Department of Public Instruction specified that 'schools shall be classified according to the number of pupils in average daily attendance; that a certain salary shall be attached to each school according with its classification; and that teachers should be eligible for appointment to schools according to the grades of the certificates they hold in the Service'. (5) Initially teachers could change their classification only by examination. (6) The 1880 Regulations stated that 'As a general rule, no person will be appointed as a Teacher unless he has been examined and classified.' (7)

The Public Service Regulations of February 1906 enlarged the importance of classification for teachers. The 1903 Regulations had emphasised the need for a teacher employed in New South Wales public schools to possess 'a sufficient experience of the established Public School system to warrant his employment. Every untrained applicant must undergo a course of training....' (8) By contrast the 1906 Regulations echoed those of 1880, stating 'As a general rule, no person shall be appointed as a teacher unless he has been examined and classified. In some cases a teacher may be appointed provisionally who has not undergone examination; but his appointment will not be ratified until his competency has been tested by examination. Every untrained applicant must undergo a course of training....' (9)

Changes made to the teacher examinations in 1906 came into operation in 1908. The new standards were designed to 'test the general culture, intellectual power and adaptation of knowledge to the practical work of the school...' of the candidate, being the 'study of his subject rather than a text-book....' English texts, for example, should be studied for 'their subject matter and their literary style rather than verbal and grammatical details.' (10)

From 1880 to 1907 the salary of a teacher in charge of a school depended on the school's classification, which was based on the average attendance of pupils. Any changes to the average number of pupils attending resulted in fluctuations in the principal's salary. (11)

In November 1907 the Department adopted the principle that a teacher's pay should be based on both the position filled and the classification held. As a result positions now carried a range of salaries. For example, the salary of an unmarried man in charge of a school with 30 to 50 pupils varied from 150 pounds with a 3B certificate to 186 pounds with a 2A certificate. (12) By 1912 the Sydney Morning Herald commented on the 'general desire among teachers to attend examinations....'. (13)

Classification continued to control the type of school that a teacher could manage. By 1914 the principal of a school with an average attendance of more than 400 pupils needed a classification of 1A or 1B and could earn up to 450 pounds per year. A teacher with a 3B certificate could only be in charge of a small school, with no more than 49 pupils, and was paid forty pounds less that a 2A teacher performing the same work. An unclassified teacher was restricted to being in charge of a school with less than 20 pupils and a salary of only 110 pounds. (14)

A teacher's initial grading reflected the type of training course they completed. Teachers College graduates were only classified after gaining teaching experience. In 1905 the Department decided that students who completed the two year course would receive second class certificates. Those with only one year of training were limited to a third class certificate. (15) As well from 1911 to 1937 the Department offered what was known as the 'short course', aimed at supplying teachers to work in small country schools or as assistant teachers in bigger schools. This course was originally for six months, but in 1918 was extended to twelve months. (16) Those who passed the 'short course', without possessing any additional qualifications, were also given a third class certificate and thus the lowest pay. (17)

It is not known why the Committee was established in June 1912. The Department had been setting the syllabus for the teacher examinations, approving text lists and examination questions, as well as classifying teachers for many years. It had also previously exempted individuals whose qualifications and/or experience were judged as adequate. The 1909 Departmental Annual Report, for example, recorded teachers receiving exemptions from the Department's examinations based upon passes in courses at the University of Sydney. (18) However the 1912 Regulations drafted by the Committee contain the first standardised list of courses that were guaranteed an exemption. (19)

The Committee may be a formalisation of a pre-existing practice used for drafting Regulations. For example, on 15 August 1910 the Public Service Board asked the Under Secretary/Director of Education to 'appoint a small committee to go through the [Public Service] Regulations affecting your Department and sub-departments ... and furnish a report embodying such amendments as may be thought to be necessary.' (20) It is presumed that such prior committees were informal with a limited life span.

Alternatively the Committee may be a response to reform of the education system from 1905 on, including the end of the pupil-teacher system of teacher training. The Committee sought to improve the uncertified teachers and those on the lowest classification of 3B, many of whom were ex-pupil-teachers. The replacement of the pupil-teacher training system with pre-service teacher training was a result of the Knibb-Turner report on education practices overseas in 1902-1903, teachers' conferences held in 1904, and the appointment on 8 February 1905 of Peter Board as Under-Secretary and Director for Education. The number of pupil-teachers declined from 1077 in 1904, 634 in 1907, to 36 in 1910 and none in 1912 as those previously employed as pupil-teachers were sent to Sydney Teachers College for training. (21)

Endnotes
1. Teachers Examination and Classification Committee; NRS 472, Minutes; 1912-1923; [7/6296] 4 June 1912 to 2 April 1914.
2. ibid.
3. Report of the Minister of Public Instruction for the Year 1910, p.18 in NSW Parliamentary Papers, 1911, Vol.1, p. 34; Official Year Book of New South Wales (Sydney: NSW Government Printer) 1913, p.312.
4. Department of Education; NRS 3946, Clippings and reports on departmental policy; 1921-1937; [19/8239.3] p.78.
5. Report of the Minister of Public Instruction for the Year 1880, p.2 in NSW Votes and Proceedings, 1880-1881, Vol.2, p.154.
6. ibid., p.5 in NSW Votes and Proceedings, 1880-1881, Vol.2, p.157.
7. Regulations 12, 14, 15, ibid., p.17 in NSW Votes and Proceedings, 1880-1881, Vol.2, p.169.
8. New South Wales Government Gazette No.486, 18 September 1903, p.6932.
9. New South Wales Government Gazette No.77, 9 February 1906, p.978.
10. 'Report of the Undersecretary and Director', Report of the Minister of Public Instruction for the Year 1906, p.28; in Parliamentary Papers, 1907 (Second Session), Vol.1, p. 918; Report of the Minister of Public Instruction for the Year 1907, p.11 in Parliamentary Papers, 1908 (Second Session), Vol.1, p. 1145.
11. 'Chief Inspectors Report' in Report of the Minister of Public Instruction for the Year 1908, p.30 in NSW Parliamentary Papers, 1909, Vol.1, p. 274.
12. Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) 29 November 1907, p.3; 'Education: Statement respecting the new regulations dealing with the classification of schools, and with the training, examination, classification, transfer, promotion and salaries of teachers...', in Parliamentary Papers, 1907 (Second Session), Vol.1, pp.1067-70; Official Year Book of New South Wales, 1908-1909, op.cit., p.90.
13. SMH, 12 March 1912, p.5.
14. Official Year Book of New South Wales, op.cit., 1914, pp.189-90.
15. 'Report of the Undersecretary and Director', Report of the Minister of Public Instruction for the Year 1905, p.30; in Parliamentary Papers, 1906, Vol.1, p.212.
16. Elwyn S Elphick and Lionel A Gilbert, Forty Three and Seven: a short illustrated history of the first Fifty years of teachers education in Armidale (Armidale: Armidale College of Advanced Education, 1978) p.5, AD Spaull and LA Mandelson, 'The College Principals - J Smyth and A Mackie' in Pioneers of Australian Education, Vol.3 (Sydney: Sydney University Press, 1983) pp.105-6; Report of the Minister of Public Instruction for the Year 1910, pp.13-14 in Parliamentary Papers, 1911, Vol.1, pp.29-30; Report of the Minister of Public Instruction for the Year 1911, p.3 in Parliamentary Papers, 1912, Vol.1, p.443.
17. SMH 29 November 1907, p.4; Official Year Book of New South Wales, op.cit., 1913 pp.309-10; 1914 pp.187-9, 1941-42 and 1942-43, pp.232-33.
18. Report of the Minister of Public Instruction for the Year 1909, p.7 in Parliamentary Papers, 1910, Vol.1, p.19.
19. NSW Government Gazette No.16, 2 February 1911, pp.697-9; No.150, 23 October 1912, pp.6316-23; Public Instruction Gazette, Vol.6, No.8, 31 August 1912, pp.249-51.
20. Department of Education; NRS 3830, Subject Files, 1875-1948; [20/13017] Public Service Board, 1910-1911.
21. Alan Barcan, A Short History of Education in New South Wales (Sydney: Martindale Press, 1965) pp. 206-10, 212-4; Joan Cobb, Sweet Road to Progress: the history of state technical education in New South Wales to 1949 (Sydney: NSW Department of Education and Training, 2000) pp.172-83; 'Report of the Undersecretary and Director', Report of the Minister of Public Instruction for the Year 1906, p.26; in Parliamentary Papers, 1907 (Second Session), Vol.1, p. 916; 1910, p.14, 33; Report of the Minister of Public Instruction for the Year 1910, pp.2, 17 in Parliamentary Papers, 1911, Vol.1, pp. 14, 33; Official Year Book of New South Wales, op.cit., 1907-08 p.90; 1908-09, p.89.