POPULAR EDUCATION.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1556, 27 September 1912, Page 3

POPULAR EDUCATION.

WANGANUI DISTRICT NEEDSAN APPEAL TO THE MINISTER. ) s POLICY PROPOSALS. I 5 A deputation from the Wanganui Edi ' cation Board was introduced yestcrda ' by llr. 13. 11. Guthrie, M.P., to the Mil | istrt for Education. Mr. F. Pirani (chnii ; m.lll of tlio Board) put several matters < j importance before tHo Minister. The firs . was iu regard to tho subsidy for cor . voyanco of cliildren to school, and til . want of accommodation at certain countr , schools. Tlio main quest ion, Mr. Pirai: j explained, was in regard to technical edi 5 cation. Tho developments in the distric • were, ho said, tremendously ahead c 3 those in any other part of New Zealand [ Technical instruction had been worked u • to such an extent that there was noi l a chain of technical schools throughou . the country. It had been worked up t i such an extent that 4ho Department hai cut down tho capitation and tlio teclini . cal departments of the board wero noi . showing a deficit of .GSB. They got don ■ bio in fees what tlio Auckland distric j got, and ten times nioro than anv othe [ district in New Zealand. That had bee: . tlio result o£ their system of government Disestablishment Proposal, : Tho board economised ill every way--1 there had been no extravagance—and i ' seemed a shamo that all tho good wor! ■ done should bo thrown away by a: > arbitrary reduction in tho rate ofcapi tation—Dr. Anderson had recently visitei ■ tho Wanganui Technical College and hn i described it as an ideal secondary inst: ■ tntion for those who could not aitord t 1 attend a secondary lxinrding institutioi: ' l'n tho casa of 19 pupils attending th ' collego tlio Department refused to pa ' capitation on tho ground that these pupil : could go to tho district high school. 1 t the district high school wero discstal | lishccl tho 150 pupils whom it at preson I accommodated could be taught to bet.te • advantage at (ho Technical College. Th I Hon. G. Fowlds' had taken the view thn ; tho school could not bo disestablished, bn Mr. Hanan had taken tho opposite view i Tho present year. Mr. Pirani eontinuer > would probably show a loss on tho worl i ing of the college of iE)00. Nothing defu i ito had been determined in regard to paj > mcnt for compulsory continuation classt > a number of which had been successful! : established at Wanganui. A rate of l!i : per hour would l:e ridiculously madequat [ Another question was (hat of pupils w!i | did net complete tho full course. AVlie | a pupil left beforo the end of tho yet ; tho capitnfTon payment amounted to onl ; a fciv shillings. Payment shou'd bo mac ' pro rata. Absence of pupils through sicl ' liess had also enormously reduced tl capitatiou payments. There was a vci ' complete engineering class at Wanganu | conducted by two of the best instructoi | in the Dominion. Salaries alone ft this instruction amounted to bt capitation amounted to only ,£350. As [ whole, tho technical collrgo was an institi ( lion that should bo encouraged. Its ere tion had cost the Stato nothing, and a , they a.sked was that facilities should 1 given for turning tlio collego to tho be; | account. ; Other Requests. Mr. Bennett asked that a grant shoul I be made for tho erection of n school i i tlio West End in Palmcrston North. . i grant had been made, but it was insufl oiont. Enough money should be provide '■ to build a school that would accommi date 320 pupils. Another request pr forward by Mr. Bennett was for a teacl 1 cr's residence at Stony Creek. Tho Tei race End School also called for altei ; tion. The board would nsk tlio Ministc to undertake a gradual rebuilding of tli: 1 school, .starting with tho erection of on ■ room. Mr. D. Juick endorsed all that Mi ' Bennett had said. It would pay be; ' to erect a largo school at tho West En at the outset, and similar consideratioi: applied to the Stony Creek residence au tho Terrace End Schools. ; Mr. D. H. Guthrie (Oroual also suppor' ( ed the request? advanced. He stated the an increase of «£S(KI in tho grant for th i West End School would provide an adi quato building. Failing this, anotlu i grant would have to bo sought twolv months hence. As now designed, tli school would only absorb tho ovorflo' from two adjoining schools. Mr. Gutliri pressed the claims of a number of com try districts where schools worn needef or where tho existing sclicol buildings wcr inadequate. THE MINISTER IN REPLY. PROBLEMS OF WAYS AND MEANS. Tho Minister, in replying, tSanked Mr Pirani for his kind relcrenco to himsel and to his faking up tho portfolio ttra' ho held, lie had realised in taking it that it was perhaps nioro than he ought ,lo take. Tho portfolio of Education wai ■probably tho most interesting of all, anc one with which a man in earnest about hit subject could do tho most good. Tin ' matter of increasing tho allowanco loi I the conveyance of children to central schools had been beforo tho Educatioi Committee, and proposals had been tram,cd which were intended to assist the | boards as much as possible, and yet mniiv tain a reasonable check on' expenditure The Department would make a grant oi Gd. per head for conveying children ovci seven years of ago three milos or more to any school, in addition it would reimburse boards for half tho amount spent ill excess ot this grant in conveying children over seven to school, and would pay half the total cost of convoying children under seven to school. Conveyance by ferry would stand as at present, and no grants would bo made for riding horses or bicycles. The status of technical schools, "tlio disestablishment o£ district high schools, and capitation gave rise to questions which wero not easy tc solve. He was not prepared to say definitely wlmt ho would recommend' tho Government to do ilbout those technical schools until he knew more about them than ho did at present. . He had believed when lie beeamo a Minister that the whole question of technical education in New Zealand wanted very careful reviewing, and that tho country should get a gre<it deal nioro value for the money it was spending than it did at present; In (his he was not referring to the Wanganui district. It might bo that lie would have to submit proposals to Cabinet for a complete reorganisation of' technical education. District High Schools. He would find out definitely what the legal position was in regard to disestablishing district high schools where tliero was overlapping, ami if it were nccessary to introduce legislatiou he would try to do it this year. The question of payment for compulsory continuation classes was purely one of money. The expenditure upon education was pretty large, ana if savings could bo made, as the commission suited, in some directions, he was sure that thcro were other directions in which tho inoi:o\- could bo spent on tilings not absolutely necessary;. The report of the commission was goui;; before too Education Committee, and he hoped that the result of their deliberations would be sat'sfactory in regard both to continuation classes and to education generally. Capitation also was a question of money, lire boards said that with the capitation reduced they eouid not make their schools pav. The whole matter would be carefully inquired into. The Minister stated that he hoped to visit Wangamu during the recess.

Demands and Resources. In regard to school buildings and teachers' residences the Minister, was face to face almost every day with applications for new buildings. Tor a time ho had attempted to deal with theso applications individually, but latterly had instructed the Department to schedule the applications in order of urgency. The proposed Public Works vote this year for school buildings and residences was ,£119,000. Tho amount spent up to the last month was iM3,t)OO, leaving a balance of *£75,0011. But commitments at that date amounted to .£117,000. so that the Department wis committed to the expenditure for a pood part of next year, lie had the schedules mentioned betore him, and they did not mention as among the most urgent works any of the schools and buildings for which the deputation had asked. lie suggested that tney should list these buildings in older of urgency, lie would then carefully consider (.heir requests. Mr. l'iraui said that the buildings men* tloiuv) v'bvb the iuml: urgent! Hici'o w«w a dotcft ottoa jwutpd«.