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The Akaroa Mail. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23. AKAROA HIGH SCHOOL.

The Akaroa High School Bill, thanks to the exertions of our member, Mr Montgomery, has p ssed both Houses, and by it an endowment for the purposes of secondary education is secured to trie Peninsula. It is true that that ■endowment is only £160 a year, but the reserves from which it is derived are annually increasing in value, an 1 not very far in the future will afford a V: ry vespcctabl»income We. presume that the next step that will be taken will be the appointment of a Bou-d of Governors, which, according to the Act, is, we believe, composed of seven membeiv, two of whom are nominated by the North Canterbury Board of Education, two by the Canterbury College, and two by the County Council, the Mayor of the town, by virtue of Ins office, being the seventh member. Once let this Board be organised, and the whole matter is left in their hands. They can continue setting aside the revenue they receive and allowing it to accumulate, or they can make instant use of it, either in the erection of school buildings or in part payment of a master's salary.

It does not appear that there is any reserve in the Borough set apart for a High School site, but we should think that even if there were, it would he unwise to build till the revenue increased. Luckily, there are .0 restrictions as to where the school should bo hel I, and any suitable building might he hired lor the purpose. The great thing is, not to haven fine building, but to have a good mast r ; nnd there are many such in the colony that would be only too glad of the appointment. It would be imbecile policy to endeavor to procure a cheap man for the post; n reasonable sal ry of at least £850 per annum, with the right to keep boarders, must be offered to ensure success. It will at once be said, " but how is such a thing to be done when the Board's income is onl £160 ?" The answer is an easy one, for the Ashburton High Sciiool Board solved the question months ago, and with no greiter means at theii- disposal founded a school which is a credit to their county, and an incalculable benefit to many of its inhabitants. The system they adopted was this : they intimated to

sever 1 gentlemen interest"d, that if a suf'ficientnuniber of schola s were guaranteed, the soli ol should be started. The matter was warmly takeu up, the town rind neighborhood canvassed, and in a week or two the Board were forwarded a list of some twenty-five or thirty boys, whose parents guaranteed to send them to the school, and pay a fee of £10 per annum for their education. This was quite sufficient for the Board ; a master was at once advertised for in all the leading towns in the colony, the salary being fixed at about the sum we have just mentioned. The responses wore numerous, and amongst the applicants were seven gentlemen of such attainments, and with such li gh testimonies, that the Board's greatest trouble was, not to select, but to reject.

There were some funds at the disposal of the Board, as it had been established several years and the revenue had ac uniulatcd, but not a halfpenny of those funds went to the support ol the master, the scholars' contributions sufficing for that purpose. They were devoted to the erection of a schoolroom, which was erected on a site given by Government for tho purpose. There are now between forty and fifty scholars, and a second master has had to be appointed. The question is, Can Aye not do what Ashburton has done? Can we not get enough scholars promised to ensure a good income to a first-class master ? Living as we do so far from any town where there are secondary schools, our children are placed at a great disadvantage, for few of us indeed can afford the large sums required for boarding and educating them in Christchur h. But the High School is within our means and within our reach, and surely there are enough boys requiring secondary education, within ten miles of Akaroa, to support it.

Let the matter be taken up and the district canvassed by a few of those intere.-ted, and .there is no doubt that the movement can be made successful, and those advantages gained for our children that will enable them to acquire that knowledge that would fit them, if they have the ability, and the opportunity occurs, to occupy good positions fittingly, and be of greater benefit to their fellow-men.

We wish it distinctly to be understood that in advocating the High School we are in no way underrating the value and efficiency of the Borough and Government Schools, for one is of as much importance a& the other. No boy should be admitted to the High School till he has passed a certain standard, for a High School occupies the position of a College at Home. It is a place where those who have completed their elementary studies go to finish their education, and the curriculum of the one should be the sequence of the other.

If a High School is made a place where hoys of all ages and stages, of a cert-tin class, are taught all sorts of elementary, as well as advanced studies, it had better be done away with at once, for it is not fulfilling its object, which undoubtedly is. to fit thoughtful boys, who have gained their elementary knowledge elsewhere, for the great struggles they will have to encounter in the battle of life.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AMBPA18810923.2.8

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume VI, Issue 542, 23 September 1881, Page 2

Word count
Tapeke kupu
962

The Akaroa Mail. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23. AKAROA HIGH SCHOOL. Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume VI, Issue 542, 23 September 1881, Page 2

The Akaroa Mail. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23. AKAROA HIGH SCHOOL. Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume VI, Issue 542, 23 September 1881, Page 2

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