1931 - Annual Convention

              36 A L B E R T A W O M E N ' S I N S T I T U T ES
In conclusion, I wish to thank all those who have been so kind to me,
and some friendships I have made I hope w i l l be life- long. The time I have
given gladly, and as God has helped me in m y work, so I trust He will help
my successor. Though we are not sectarian, we cannot expect our efforts
to prosper without asking H i s help and support.
" A loving thought, a deed of kindness done,
A burden lifted, or a song begun,
Such trifles that we give, not praise or blame,
But ' Fragments' that make an everlasting name."
REPORT ON EDUCATION A N D B E T T E R SCHOOLS
Mrs. G. M . Gibson/' Drumheller, Convener.
A brief survey of Education in A l b e r t a reveals the fact that much progress
has been made in this department during the last few years; this is p a r t i c u ­l
a r l y true in the rural schools. Our young people, especially in the rural
district, are showing a much greater desire to s t a y longer at school and so
obtain some form of higher education; this is shown . by the fact that last
year the Grade V I I I . examination was written at 1804 r u r a l centres as com­pared
with only 886 nine years ago. Rural schools are now operating a much
greater period of time during ithe year than formerly— ninety- three per cent
of them operated one hundred and sixty more days during last year as against
only sixty- nine, nine yeans ago.
This - much to be desired improvement is a t t r i b u t e d l a r g e l y to the equaliza­tion
of government grants to school districts which came in force in 1926.
The Minister of Education considers this the most important piece of educa­tional
legislation passed during his administration of the department, as it
enables many poverty- stricken school d i s t r i c t s to take a new lease of life.
Another development of rural education has been the establishment of public
school correspondence courses for children in outlying districts. This was
organized p r i m a r i l y for children in unorganized t e r r i t o r y , but now the courses
are used by p h y s i c a l l y disabled . children, pupils of schools o n l y able to operate
a few mcnths in the year, and for some adults whose early education has
been neglected. Fifteen hundred have already received instruction this way,
and last year sixteen wrote Grade V I I I . , all of whom were successful. This
service deserves the appreciation it receives f r om parents and children. There
is no c h . r g e for the lessons.
T h i r t e e n rural high schools have been established, comprising pupils from
s i x t y - t w o districts. This is a new departure and an attempt to solve the
problem of secondary education in the r u r a l districts. Though only in the
experimental stage, it has proved satisfactory so far;
U n f o r t u n a t e l y present conditions in the educational world, seen from
the teachtrs point o f view, are not very satisfactory, w i t h some two hundred
or more of them out of employment. At a recent meeting of the teachers
held in Edmonton, resolutions were drafted asking that legislation be passed
to help remedy this condition. Some of the resolutions were as f o l l o w s:
That Grade XII. standing be required from a l l teachers;
That government grants to Normal students be discontinued;
That the Normal term should be increased to t'wo yeans;
That teachers out of the profession for more than five years should be
compelled to take a " refresher" course before they would be able to teach
again.