EDUCATION RESERVES

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2773, 17 May 1916, Page 6

EDUCATION RESERVES

THE UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF - ENDOWMENTS.

A grievance long cherished by ft'e controlling' authorities of secondary schools whicu are not endowed was brought under the notice of the Minister of Education and the House yesterday afternoon by Mr. E. J. Anderson and other members. Long ago certain lands were set apart as endowments for secondary education. Presently a number of secondary schools were established, and, possibly to facilitate the profitable administration of these lands, they were appropriated to particular schools. This has led to a great deal of inequality in the incomes . from endowments of different schools. Unfortunately, this is not the only difficulty, nor the most important one. Schools have been established since the partition, was made, and many more will yet be established, and the new schools have no endowments. These schools have to carry,on with possibly small annual grants, and the capitation paid for free-place pupils by tho Government. Some of these poorer schools contrive to make ends meet with a total income at tho rate of £U 10s. per pupil per year, whereas other schools have incomes as high as .£33 per pupil per rear. The consequence is that the rich-ly-endowed schools can pay to their masters liberal salaries, enabling them to attract to their stall's the best men in the profession, to the disadvantage of the newer, less fortunate schools. These facts were pointed out by Mr. Anderson and several other members. They urged that the lands originally reserved for secondary education as a whole ought not' to be reserved for the.few, but for tho many. Mr. Anderson went so far as to suggest that the endowments should be '«» pooled, and the income derived from them distributed among secondary schools equitably. The task of reducing the incomes of some of the wealthy schools was no easy one, but it ought to be faced.

The Minister of Education thought the task rather beyond his powers, however. "It is all very wall." he said, "for members representing districts in which are schools not endowed, to get up in tho House and urge that we should interfere with the earmarking of reserves in their districts. .Tust imagine what sltpnort I would get if I •nttempted, by bringing down a Bill to interfere with the purposes for which certain reserves were set aside! I wuild raise a storm about me, and I would achieve nothing." Jf r , Ha nan added that ho proposed to review certain nuestions regarding education idministration, but he did lot mention this particular question.