FREE PLACES.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 312, 26 September 1908, Page 7

FREE PLACES.

WELLINGTON GIRLS' COLLEGE. GOVERNMENT AND GOVERNORS AT VARIANCE. The 13oard of Governors of the Wellington Collego are at variance with tho Government in connection with the ' granting of free places at the Girls' -College and the Government's attitude was ' strongly criticised at yesterday's meeting of the governors. THE PRINCIPAL " ALARMED." Miss Mary M'Lenn, M.A., Principal of the Wellington Girls'. Colltge, forwarded tho following letter to Mr. Brandon:— " I hear with alarm' that the Board of Governors have agreed to receive freeplace pupils at the college, but have not ascertained what the Government is prepared to do. During tho eight years X have been here, though the attendance has been well-maintained all the time, tho school has Icen practically full, and I have experienced what a struggle it is to'keep a school efficient and fairly equipped on small means. From want of means, tho college is far from being what a girls' college in the capital city should bo. In what way it is lacking I havo several times ; explained to tho board. It is certainly to tho discredit of someone-that so: important a school has not had its proper share of endowments and grants. , Though tho Government was approached by the board to .remedy 1 matters, nothing was done. Then the lato Premier, on the collego platform, promised to see that a grant was made to give us our building. Wo wero jubilant, but again nothing was ' done, and there was a griovanco to he redressed before any new arrangements wflro made. Now, . as to these new arrangements, wo aro threatened with a large influx of pupils. . They will como'to us from tho district high schools, the secondary classes of the technical school, or tho training college. I havo hehrd, in other centres, of most harmful overcrowding when free-place pupils were first received. The accommodation and equipment should be there for them before they arrive. Another objectiona'ble feature that I hope wo can prevent from the start is that tho free-place pupils often stay for so short a period; this disorganises a , school. Perhaps some arrangement could bo. insisted on beforehand—a doposit, for instance, tb bo forfeited, by a stay of loss than > a year or so. I ' should havo • thought that this was a fitting opportunity to put the position of the school plainly before tho Government before-.committing us to the extension of numbers, a fall in revenue, and subsequent ombarrassmonts." INSPECTOR-GENERAL EXPLAINS. Tho Inspector-General of Schools (Mr. G. Hogbeu) acknowledged receipt of a letter of September 8, and Stated that while tho Minister for' Education was gratified with the intention of. the Board of Governors, yet the terms of the 'letter wero not sufficiently precise io make tho position ;cloar enough to enable the Department to pay tho capitation on account of free pupils wider Section 93 of tho Education Act, 1908. Tho section fcas to tho effect that the of capitation on annual grants were pa.yablo to secondary schools that provide free places in accordance with regulations. By tho'regulations (Clauso ,2) a secondary school is held to provide free :places within tho meaning of tho Act if (subject to tho Act and regulations) it admits to' such ,'froo plapcs all 'qualified- pupils who \vish to attend such secondary; school. Ha presumed that the board desired to elect to come under Section 93 now, subject to tho limitation of the available accommodation, but tho letter 'said that the board would provide frco places when the Government furnishes the board with , means necessary to enable it. to provide.-the accommodation for all free-place girls. This, did not' amount to an election to como under the section, but was merely a declaration of intention to do so at, somo future time,, and capitation was payable only to schools' that actually did (now} provide free places in accordanco with the regulations. It was reasonable for,tho, board to look ahead • in. the matter of tho additional accommodation that would probably ho'required very shortly-owing to tho adoption of the. free-placo system, but tho point ho raised was quito distinct from the accommodation, many, of tho girls being already in tho school; if tho latter point should arise, it was governed by Clauso 13, which safeguarded the board. Except those already admitted as free pupils, , tho election to .'grant''- free places could not como into cffcct earlier than January, 1909. Ho asked the board whether they wero coining undor tho oporation of tho section. STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN. The chairman said that as an institution free, from any statutory directions regarding tho disposal of its income, tho governor had power to increase tho fees, and two or three'_ years, ago, he informed tho board that, in his opinion, it was necessary to do this in order to tempt men of education and enable more individual attention to ho given thoso boys who wore by nature inclined to shirk. Tho ' governors were to some extent deprived - of this' power, and had. incurred a diminution ■ in tboir receipts by their agreement to take in boys under the free-place system at a fee fixed by statuto,'but the loss did not proiniso to bo more than the increase in income consequent on tho re-letting of somo of tho collego ondowments. Tho admission of freeplaco pupils to tho Girls' College on terms that accommodation. only was provided • by tho Government, altered the aspect of affairs. Tho two. institutions had ' been managed separately, and tho deficiency in tho working of tho Girls' Collego had been mado up out of tho revomio from tho Wellington Collcgo ■endowments. Ho was of opinion that tho admission of free place pupils to tho Girls' Collego would; have a much more disturbing offect oil tho income of that institution than in tho case of the Wellington College, and if that-was so, the board would bo quite unable to provido officent instruction from tho rovenue at its command. Taking the Government fee' at £10 per pupil, and twenty pupils as tho averago class,' the utmost tho board could receive in_ fees was £200 a year per teacher out of Which to pay tho teacher and other outlay not covored by tho income from endowments, and it was absurd to suppose that while paying an averago salary of under £200 a year the board could secure a really competent staff. There had been previous conflicts botween the board and tho Government., In tho case of the Victoria Collego site,'the board successfully resisted attempts mado to tako part of tho collego site and playground, and ultimately made a concession by permitting the widening of "Willis Street to bo mado at tho end of Sir. Duthie's lease without claiming compensation. _ In tho caso of tho boys' free places, tho situation was compromised by tho addition of £10,000 worth of buildings, giving more accommodation than would probably bo called for by tho free ' attendants. Conditions which would not bo taken into account whero boys wore concerned wore of vital importance in tho caso ot girls. Ho thought it might bo taken as certain that within a year or two after tho general adoption of tho freo place system at tho Girls' Collcgo tho attendanco would bo confined to freo pupils. With 170 pupils, tho inicomo would bo reduced by somo £510, and this added to the present known annual deficiency would make tho annual loss over £1200. It would seem that tho board too readily accepted tho proposition of tho At-torney-General who, as a member of 1 the board nominated by tho Government of tho day beforo ho himself took a portfolio, moved a resolution committing the board to a particular course of action in tho case of the Girls' Collego instead of presenting, as ho did in 'ho caso of tho Boys' College, a proposition from tho Government for tho consideration of his colleagues on tho board; The position was that tho board might shortly bo found managing tho institution and hearing tho results criticised from a professional point of view, while an absolute limit.was set upon its income, but no limit oil its obligations. Tho exercise of an intelligent discretion would be limited, to cutting down salaries, so that tho expensos would not exceed tho rccoipts. Such a function jvas boat performed by. a paid departmental

officer, i.nd was not one which called for a personal sacrifice of timo and trouble. Notwithstanding a suggestion made at the hoard meeting that if the board did not fall in with the views of tho "people," tho "peoplo" would step in and resume schools and endowments, he (Jlr. Brandon) doubted whether tho public disregard for vested rights bad yet reached that stage when it would sweep away tiio creations of tho founders o f tho Dominion, and, bj confiscating or resuming all endowments belonging to independent organisations for teaching, bring all education in the Dominion to the lovel of that "free, secular, and compulsory" system, which was at once tho boast of and a menace to democracy. Tho board's duty was to preserve die institution as contemplated by its founders, .and if it allowed the ■ control-to bo whittled away,tho collego would bo gradually absorbed and be worlwd by tho central authority without elasticity to meet local circumstances. Tho board should never yield to a suggestion that if it did not give effect to a particular, folicy it would be made to, and if tho exi gcncies of politics brought about tho dissolution of tho board, let it be so by force of law, and not by tho adoption of insidious methods which would'ultimately involve the board in moral suicide. . Mr. W. H. Field remarked that tho Government had committed a breach of faith. . • ■ • FURTHER INFORMATION- WANTED. On tho, motion of the Chairman, the following motion was adopted:— . , ; "That the consideration of tho question of electing to como under Section 93, so far as tho Girls' Collego is concerned, be postponed until tho board receives some indication of the extent to which the Government will go in sup-'; plementing the resources of the Girls' • College, and that the Inspector-General of Schools be so. informed."