SCHOOL ACCOMMODATION

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 112, 30 May 1941, Page 4

SCHOOL ACCOMMODATION

THOUGH the fulfillment of increased school accommodation in Whakatane has been a most gradual and drawn out process, the. opening of the new additions to the High School buildings on Tuesday afternoon (June 3rd) will mark a definite milestone in the course of the long agitation. The new block will be officially opened by the Minister for Education, the Hon. H. G. R. Mason, and an invitation has been extended to the general public to attend, The High School is now assuming very imposing proportions, and may be regarded as being up-to-date in every respect. The buildings are well laid out and attractive, while the grounds lend themselves to beautification and layout. It is to be hoped that the Primary School will now come in for longdelayed attention. Here a state of chronic overcrowding has existed for several; years, and, the. normal overflow occupies two adjacent buildings for which the Department is paying rent. Only the outbreak of the war prevented' the agitation for an improvement on this state of affairs from taking on a more drastic form, but at the same time Whakatane parents still feel the position x most keenly, and will welcome early action by the Department for additional rooms at the Primary School. Tuesday's gathering will be an important one in that the establishment of the new classrooms represents the greater consolidation of educational interests in. this town. Greater and improved facilities are now possible, and the net result will mean encouragement for both teacher and pupil.