GRANT FOR FREE SCHOOL BOOKS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 549, 2 July 1909, Page 9

GRANT FOR FREE SCHOOL BOOKS.

, i . i •- • ONE OF THE CONDITIONS IRKSOME. x i (By Tolegraph.-Prees AesoolattQn il • i ' Auokland, Juno 30. x The question of freo scnool oooks a,;.iin ' came before the Auckland Education Board to-day, whon a letter yiaq received from tho Otago Education Board stating that the following resolution had been carried: ''That further inquiry having cleaily established ( ' the that tjho grant made' by' tho Department for this 'purpose of providing freo echool books is insufficient, to moot reasonable requiromente, this , board resolves to in- - form the Minister that, , unless,condition (2) be modified,'it cannot take advantage of the offer." A letter was "also received from the Inspector-General of Schools (Mr. J G. Hog■ben), referring to trie,' request that the condition attached to tho payment of th,egnmt • 'for free school booksf should , be waived. This condition, Jtr. Hogoen stated,, wasi made known by circular on Ootober 16/ and noncompliance with it meant the withholding ' of the grant by tho Department. The chairman (Mr. Parr)" stated that,-, ho ' was hoping that they i would still bo able to get tho grant, and make it go as far as possible. The difficulty was that, in accept;jlg the grant, they had to certify that pupils had not been asked to provide any other books. The grant of £300 or £400 for the whole district had to provide all the books rpquired. Sir. Purdie: ,Thnt ia nonsense. Mr. Parr: Yes. it is out of tho question, . ns another text-book is necessary. All wo can do is to mako the grant go as far as , it, will, and 1 join with tho Otago Board in asking that tho condition in question should bo wiped ,but. The grant only applies to two ' of the loner l standards, ivheTe few books are required,'but the'araeunt is not nearly large eneuglt for the purpose. • ' . 'After further discussion on, the subject it wts decided to wwt upon tho Minister for Education jvhen he arrives jn Auckland, and explain the position taken up by iho board