FREE PLACES.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 583, 11 August 1909, Page 4

FREE PLACES.

THE BOARD AND THE GOVERNMENT. WHICH WILL PREVAIL? . HON G. FOWLDS SPEAKS PLAINLY. With regard : to y. the vexed question' of free plnccs , at the Girls' High School, a deputation . comprising' over twenty chairmen of } committees waited upon tho Hon.: G. Fowlus (Minister for Education) yosterday. Tlio importance .thp matter may go, gauged when is : stated that Mr. G. Lambert, inintro'd'ueing'the deputation, claimccl that, if the, ;ilcfcrs of the Girls' High School had been, open to all holders of. proficiency (luring the past four years,' 2367 girls might havo availed themselves of tho opportunity to secure secondary education. . j VIEWS OF THE DEPUTATION. ' The Rev. J. W. ..Conine said that he believed that the deputation had the sympathy and' support of - the Minister in connection with the object which'th.ov sought to achieve. "For some reason, or another, the Board-of Governors 'hai resisted • the grant; of free places ; in. the Girls'; High School, and had only allowed holders of 'proficiency certificates to enter tho Boys' College after-considerable pressure had been broffgnt- to bear on them. There,-had been no.difficult}' of";the kind in any of the' other centres.. .It was said .that they'cbuld not afford-to. admit ; 'tlic free-place holders to the Girls', High .School on account; of -tlio ! lack of accommodation. hi reply, lie ■.would; point out that the board, had no right to hold endowments with .bno hand, and shut; tlie.dcor of' the -institution ".with: tho other, it'wiis time that public, attention was called, tb'ihd matter, in-a more forcible .manner than hacl been done in the past.' What was wari- : ted was action on tlio part of' tho board,, •as there should be'no undue delay. 'For,'.it-; .might ,'bej that if pressure: was not .brought to.bear, '.another.tvo years' would;ellipse before'the necessary additions to-;tlie school >WoM,made." Th'oy; would;] therefore, request him;(Mr. Fowkls), a§' Minister for Education; to bring; pressure to bear on the Board of .Governors. If the board did .'not'yield the deputation would be obliged to take further . steps'by seeking,a'legislative remedy. -.' Mr. D, Robertson-emphasised the necessity of. treating - the girls fairly in, the. matter of "education I ,' seeing that', they. toothers of tho future race.'', '' v .. The Rev., A: Thompson,..of; Petoiie,- en-, dorsed the. remarks of the previous, speakers. MINISTER IN REPLY. s The Hon. G. Fowlds, in reply, said- that the; deputation-had his entire sympathy. He .was'hot. a.little disappointed that, sa little progress had been mado >in" regard' .to -the ■ matter. . It had been stated-that he was "the head, of ,'the house," but, as' a matter ■bf fact,tho-, real ,hcad was Parliament. Ho could, assure 'the • deputation -that both ho and'tho,Department had, doue all they could 'by- diplomacy' and pressure -to. got ,tho board to -,' do ' the right thing. , The- tow. had been effectivein all •' tho "'other' places'excepting :'liero,.';and the '-deputation, could ; readily understand -that there was ;'somo hesitation ,'on

ihe part of the; Government. to;" iritrodirco egislation to. remedy;' something '.which was lothing more , or less .tlian.' .a, Jocal matter. . l'he:reasoirwhy ho had tioyerasked nerit to. intervene was;that 'lie felt; sure that igli't .would prevail among the. mom'- s' and . thqt, : any day, ho night' get . word that they' had decided to oW undor : 'tlio operations of tho Secondary .. iohoola.:'Act, .and, .open tho'.doors' of . the School as well as the Boys' Colege, : to-, .holders of. proficiency .certificates. / !n addition to that, he had. always underr i to'od'that ,'aV majority of'the'mcmbors. of' he board wero in favour of adopting' tho i ourse which was'.suggested, but that they u rere all-never able to bo present at a meet- j ng, so, that .a resolution to that effect could i ip carried... Now that, further , interest had ; ;e.en'~'itwake'ned,-'-ho trusted that they would ■ ittend to tho matter, without- any further : slay.'' When.-ho - :took,office', hb found, that : deadlock existed hetwefen th'o board and j. •He Department,'''and 'that hi si predecessor..' lad decided to build a separate! high school oth for . tho) boys and tho; ,girls. That was. ■ , course; wliich ho .(Mr. jowlds) : did not o'nsider .it right to, follow. •'•■ln the first >laco,' it was wrong that a valuable public •ndowment - should bo kept practically ,as a ireservc for the children..of the well-to-do. ?hen, again, .it would bo impossible to secure iriothef. such magnificent site,except at • inorraous expense ,to the public,.which would io unjustified.. ' ■• ,■.:■'• '. - : L 1 History .of Previous Negotiations. , Mr'. Fowlds. .went on", to s'ajr ithat. negotiaiioiisi' wbre -then reopened ' with a view to i 'solution of.' the problem, by getting the aoai'd; .to, admit;- free-place' pupils at both schools. It was quite clear; then, that more iccommodation was needed at the Boys' Colege,' and, without any hesitation, ho subTiitbod to Parliament a proposal to vote £10,000 to erect an additional building, to aioet both present and prospective requirements. In, connection with .the negotiations, it' was pei-fectly clear on his part, and understood'on tho part of, the board, that-as part .of the arrangement the. board would take in boys and -girls to the ljiiiit of their accommodation and ' .under tho regulations. That was dohb'so far as the boys .were concerned, andvtho;bujldihg , was , proceeded with. It was his. intention,. as soon as tho lieav'y expenditure in respect of tho Boys' College ha(i : been undertaken, and it was shown' that, there- was . insufficient accommodation at tho, girl's' school' to mako the necessary provision in that/regard. To liis surprise tho board, during 'the following . year, ~proceeded ,to admit children to tho girls' school.without'.any regard to tho regulations. They admitted.. some , children to freo places before others who had a prior claim!} : and charged fees to other children' who had really earned free places. .He. then discovered that'the .board did .not intend to look upon' the arrangement •. as • binding,:so far as the girls' School was'concerned. ' Elforts . had been made to get the board to' come back to • the; understanding at .which they had arrived. As soon as , the ' original understanding was adopted, and it was shown'that more accommodation at the 1 girls' school was necessary,, he would be • pre-' ■ pared to considor any reasonablo proposal in 1 regard to further buildings. ' The law -did 1 not 1 give" him any compulsory'power; it gave ' the authorities of secondary-schools existing 1 at the time the right to elect to come under 1 the regulations or deyote a-certain part of j their revenuo for scholarships.. Ho had' obtained legal _ advice' to the cffect that the ■' two. institutions wero not separate, but he J . could , not ' bring pressure on ..the board to ? give scholarships, because it 'was the one in- ■ stitution,- and' part of it was open to free-. , place students. He disliked' ,tho idea of introducing legislation to meet'one particular 1 case,' still relied on the pressure of > public' opinion to lead tho board to 'adopt the'reasonable course. It" would have been easier for; .him, during, the past year, to * have found money" for the enlargement of , the'girls' school than it 1 was at the present time. - •• ;

Legislation tlie ..Only Alternative.

Ho would like to emphasise, the fact that the Government was not going . to build secondary schools which, would not .take in free-place scholars. The ;condjtion precedent to the Government oxpending. money on. the, school was that the board should elect to come under the clauses of the Act stipulating for the freo admission'of holders of proficiency certificates. .' : , A ;voioe: .Suppose., thoy-don't olect to do so? . /■ \ '

Mr. Fowlds went on to say that this was the first-time he ; had been-approached on the matter. Ho did not think anybody (includihg'tho press)"had realised the injustice that was bein" done the girl scholars here, 'or they would nave recognised that the board alone "was responsible'for it. • It was not his wish to hold out'a threat to-tho , board, but'! he would - remind r ,it that the, only , other, alterative was legislation. ■Mr;'t&bertsonV As the'-board is bound to pleiuTpovorty, ..carl wo tfSll th'o governors that if they, are prepared to £o 011 the Government is-prepared to assist? . Mr. Fowlds:. That promise .has been available throughout the'negotiations, but, after the way I nave been treated,Vl am certainly not going to/, make any advance in the way I "of. money" until . they ha'vo. elected —and. .the I election must be' without" equivocation—to

como uiidcr tho Act. ("Hear, hear,", and "Quito right.") Mr. Rounthwaito: Could bo say tlint tho •system has been a succoss in other centres? Mr. Fowlds: -Yes. Position of "Uppor-len" Children. Mr. Rounthwaito: Could wo say—the point is bound to bo raised—that tho attendance of tho '.'upper-ten'' children at tho schools in other centres had not decreased? Mr. Fowlds: Tho question should not enter into consideration. If any section of the community does not want their children to mix with other sections, wo don't mind them having them privately educated, provided-it is done at their own cost. It might bo that tho attendance at' private' schools has increased. I don't know. Tho -attendance at tho schools which have como under tho Act has gone up, and tho system has proved a success financially. Mr.; Comrie: Supposing you _ grant tho board the additional accommodation, is there anything to prevent the board filling the school with children other than free-place pupils? Mr. Fowlds: They have no right to use secondary endowments to give primary education. But that is not the question that is involved. Wo. know ' that they could take in more, girls than they do now. Let thorn ,gleet to como under tho Act, and, as soon as they-can-show moro accommodation is nccessary, the Government will go into tho matter of: extensions. I would not make it a condition 'that'.thoy should not admit children who havo". hot gained proficiency certificates, because there is sometliinz to bo said, in favour of the claim that children who arc to receivo'a classical education should start below tho sixtlr standard. But the board should adniit tho scholars in the order that they' are entitled to be admitted.