"ETERNAL PETONE."

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 519, 28 May 1909, Page 8

"ETERNAL PETONE."

MORE EDUCATIONAL DEMANDS. A LIMIT SUCCESTED, "BREEZE" AT THE EDUCATION BOARD. Some very straight speaking was indulged a in by certain mombers of the Wellington \ Education Board yesterday, when discussing t tho' proposals of a doputation consisting of ' two members of the Petono School Commit- J tco which waited upon tho board, with referenco to the educational ,af- c fairs of thoir district. Those pro- i posals havo already been reviewed vory fully i in The Dominion (in the published report of c the last meeting of tho Potono School Com- I mittoo), and for reasons of spaco, will not J bo reiterated. Shortly put, Potono wants a ( high school proper, for Petono, not for the * Hutt Valley, as a member of tho doputation r emphasised, and also desires tho board's at- ' tontion to some minor requirements—instruo- ' tion'in woodwork and oookoryi t "Tcri Minutes Only." j Previous to the introduction of tho dorm- t tation, tho chairman of the board (Mr. 'Rob- i ort Lee) intimated that the business before tbem was such that only ton minutes would 1 be allowed tho speakers. r Mr. D. M'Kenzie, chairman of tho Petono \ School Committee, was the. principal speaker. \ He reviewed tho conclusions arrived at by { his committeo at its last mooting, and snggosted that tho boatd was in a dilemma as | to its legal course of action on the high ■ school question. Tho committeo had no ' donbt in its mind that tho boaid had tho '' power, under tho Act,'to establish a high c school proper, at practically no cost to it- c self, since a capitation grant of £12 10s. per } head would enable them to establish tho ' school. Ho suggested ono of three ways. I Firstly, the board could declare Price's Build- ' ing to be a high school proper; secondly, the c Technical School' could be added to; thirdly, I a building could bo erected on a sito which ■ the Petone Borough Council was prepared { to dedicate for the purpose. ' Strictly for Potone. I Thoy .desired thai Petone should have a , :high|school for.] itself, not for the Hutt Val- , ley. I Tho township had a population of 7000, \ 'most of whom 'wore of tho working class. ' They were determined to agitato for that c school until they'got it. It was not a case, \ said he, of tho Hutt versus Petone, for tho i requirements of tho latter place woro suffi- , cient to justify their claims. . Mr. Hogben (Inspector-General of Schools) had declared ( that Potone was tho only high school dis- t trict in Now Zealand which could command a , high school proper. Thoy had between 60 i and 70 pupils. The Minister for' Education { had expressed himself as being in favour of' . localised education, primary, technical, and j secondary. They were thoro to advocate centralisation of these three branches of c education in Petone. He concluded with a ] reference to cookery and woodwork i instrno- , tion. ' | Tho Inspector-General's Advice. ' The Rev. A. Thomson hoped that the board would credit Petono with sincerity in this ' matter. Mr. Hogben had advised them to go i for' a high school proper. He pointed out ' that in consequence of the loss of the' third j teacher on the staff of the Petone District ' High School, certain subjects which would bo ' efficiently covered in a properly organised , high school had had to be dropped. This was not in the best interests of the pupils, who ' had a right to the same facilities as were ox- j tended to students elsewhere Tho creation , of tho two existing district high schools, ho reminded the board, was not tho work of the committeo. As for tho cookery classes, ho continued, thoy had had no instruction in ' cookery for eight years. ' | Mr. Vile: Cannot tho Technical School ' carry on that work? ' , Mr. Thomson: Thoy havo a complete equip, ment for that purpose. But it is for the board to provido instruction in cookery for their primary school pupils, not tho Technical School Board. _ '*■ ' Mr. Thomson was proceeding to emphasise, his advocacy of, Potone's requirements whon ho was intorruptod by tho chairman (Mr. Leo), who, drawing the speaker's attention to tho fact that his timo was up, remarked that ' Mr. Thomson waa merely traversing facts which wero already within tho knowledge of ' tho board.* "Wo were under tho impression that you had something now to bring before ns," he complained, "but you havo not done so." Some of the members by this time were evincing signs of impatience. The Chairman Indignant. Mr. M'Kenzio, boforo withdrawing, von. tured to oxpress a hope that tho board would give moro caToful consideration to such correspondence as the Petone Committee laid before it, a remark which brought Mr. Leo to his foet in manifest indignation. "When tho chairman of the Potono School Committee asks the board, point blank, whether it will consider its suggestions carefully,"' said he, "it is time to. protest. Whatever, businoss comes before this board —whether tho cxpondjturo involved is 6d. or £1000—is treated with careful attention. Tho board," in this particular matter, is not disposed to act prematurely. Legal (minion has been obtained, and the board is perfectly satisfied with its lino of action. I havo heard something of the nature suggested bv tho chairman of the Petono School Committeo, and I tako strong oxception to it. It is auite unfair—it is quito untrue. It is a most improper suggestion. Tho matter rests ' entirely with tho Department. It is quite absurd to suppose that two high school should exist within a conplo of miles of each other." With regard to tho cookory instruction, ho went on to say, an appointment previously made by tho board had lapsed, and a fresh appointment would bo made that dav. Tho deputation then withdrew. "Eternal Petono.", Mr. W. C. Buchanan said: "Ii is with some little rcluctanco that I rise to protest aeainst this eternal" Petono. (Hear, hear.) This board has 160 schools (Mr. Vile: "Mostly in tho Wairarapa"), and these must all be treated on a proper and equitable basis." Ho took vory strong exception to • such misrepresentation as thoy had just ox--1 oerionced. and it was about timo some limit was nut on this persistent agitation. It was made quite manifest that members of ■ the board, whose duties were sufficiently 1 onerous, received very little encouragement - fpr their labours. "Ab a member of tho - board," ho continued, addressing. tho~ohairi man, "I must say that you, sir, havo my sympathy. You havo shown remarkable 5 nationco in this matter.!'. .■ Mr. Buchanan concluded with tho observation that there ' must bo less of that sort of thing in future, 1 in connection, with this particular school ' district. ) ' Should Not bo Robukod. :Mr. Allan endeavoured, with some success, I to pour oil on tho troubled waters. Ho did 1 not think that tho 'Potono committeo shoidd be rebuked for deputationising tho board. I Petono was a most populous district, and its educational necessities wore' vory great. ' Mr. Buohanan moved that tho chairman (Mr. Leo) bo authorised to go into the whole question,,and report to the board. There was no seconder. Mr. Vilo and Mr. Aitkcn °. seconded, «that tho .representatives of tho T TTutt and Manawatn wards (Messrs. W. H n Field, M.P., J. Kobbcll, and Major T. W. 0 M'Donald) be; constituted a committeo to 0 furnish a report 'upon tho subject. The motion was carried. • n __«__——._