NEW SCHOOLS AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE

Chronicle (Levin), 6 August 1946, Page 8

NEW SCHOOLS AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE

-Press Association

By Telearaph-

WELLINGTON, August 5. "The Government certainly has a plan for school buildings and that is to erect during the next few years every possible school building that labour and materials will permit, said the acting Minister of Education, Hon. A. H. Nordmeyer, tonight. "Priorities of such buildings will depend mainly on priorities laid down by the controlling Education Boards and there will be no lack of money to have the work done as quickly as the building industry can cope with it." Mr. Nordmeyer was replying to an article in the Journal of the New Zealand Edueational lnstitute wliieh com plained of the condition of certain school buildings and alleged Jack of planning on tlie part of the education autlioritjes. The Minister said the Govei'iuuent, although by no means satisfied with all school buildings in New Zealand, had done its utmost. sinee 1935 to remedy the position which then cojifronted it, with many buildings in a deplorable condition. The war interrupted the programme but now, despite serious diffieulties, the Government was determined to spoed up its school building programme once again. This was indieated by the faet tliat eapital ex-

penditure on school buildings for the last finanfiial year totalled £1,187,54(5. This was the largest suni so spent since before 1930 and an expenditure of tliat magnitude could not be undertalcen without a plan. Vai'ious boards worlced to priorities of their own but a shifting population and ehangirig birthrate complicated the position at times. The iiumber of births in New Zealand in 1945 — 37,004 — was the highest for mauv years and was almost 10,000 more tlian in 1938. The increase in some particular distriets had been more plienomenal even tlian tliese figures indieated. Mr. Nordmeyer recalled that the Prime Minister, when he addressed the annual meeting of the New Zealand Edueational lnstitute last May, iuvited the lnstitute to set up a representative eonunittee to diseuss witli offieers of.tho department sclioolbuilding plans for the future. The lnstitute, instead of accepting tliat inVitation, had made generalised; eqniplaipts.. - Mr. Nprdmeyer said liiHodk' th'e^oppoituuity df renewing the Prime Minister 's offet to- the lnstitute.