THE FREE KINDERGARTEN

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 16, 13 October 1917, Page 3

THE FREE KINDERGARTEN

IfUNDS NEEDED,

in appeal is uemg imulu lor l"U" 3 by lUe iicilmgvuu Jiree iuuuei'inueu Association. Tuo association proposes to erect new jißiiuqiuiriew 111 iai'anaw aireet. ' -tne piopuoeu new iniiUniig will Dc used as a miKlcrgurleii accommodating luu cuuureii unuer live years, a miming centre for rue bcuueuis, the nuiuKiuurtd'a of tue ussocluoon, and a meeting-piHce lor parents. Tins building is tu be erectett on a site, already, acquired at a cost 01 J;7OU ana luliy paid lor. The estimated cost of the uuilding is .'MOO, and special efforts are being made to ensure that it shall be opened )ree of debt. "For November 2 a monster bazaar and sale ot work has been arranged to take place in tlie large' Town Hull.' A pamphlet issued by the association says- "Behind all there will be the cause which will benefit by the whole-hearted patronage of the public. Tho need for the proposed central building and school in Taranaki Street is painfully evident to all who arc interesting themselves in tho problem of the education and care of those little ones whose environment is militating against their proper upbringing. , At present tlie premises used for the Central Kindergarten are totally .unsuitable-just, three small rooms over a shop; the only means ot access being by. means' of a long, steep staircase. There-are no facilities for training of. students, no room for offices or meeting-rooms for the/council—in fact, nothing at all such as a city like Wellington should provido' for an institution of 6uch importance as the' association really is. Probably nowhero is the great kindergarten movemont more hampered than in the Capital City, which state of affairs lcflects sadly upon the public spirit of. Wellingtonians. "For an institution recognised by the Government and supported by tho City Council lo bo housed in small rooms over a shop "iu a poor neighbourhood is a state of affairs-culling for an immediate alteration if Wellington is. to maintain tho proud titleof the" Empire City. This the project in.hand seeks to effect, and if successfully'carried through will mean an addition to tho city's public buildings of a place eminently suitable for tho purpose for which it is intended, while also showing the desire of the public that tho education and care of the child life of the community shall lmvo the attention which is so badly ncHH'd if the noxt generation is to fill worthily tho placo in tho future, assigned to it." f -