SCHOOLS AND SCHOLARS

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 199, 18 May 1920, Page 3

SCHOOLS AND SCHOLARS

WELLINGTON'S NEEDS

NEW BUILDINGS AND BIGGER GROUNDS DENTAL TREATMENT PROPOSALS - __•' ) The Minister of Education (Mr. Parr) received n deputation yesterday afternoon from the Wellington Progress League and representatives l of scliool committees in Wellington, who had come to 'ask for a number of things. Thay wanted better schools in eome parts of Wellington, better grounds, .and better equipped * grounds and school 'buildings in all parts, ■ free school books, and better provision for medical and dental examination and treatment of sohool children. ■ Mr. G. Mitchell, M.P., introduced the deputation and explained that its demand was for a much; bigger and bolder policy with regaiAl to education activi-ties.-.More money for,;education was an imperative -necessity, for' the. present , unsatisfactory state of • things fee did not blame the present Minister'or any of his recent predecessors. The.. trouble.-. had developed over years. He said that the • minimum demand of the deputation was for four new schools, at Mount Cook, Clyde Quay, Te Aro, and Newtown. Playing Areas. There were some sixteen speakers, referring to different subjects. Mr. C. M. Luke opened tile subject of school grounds, the inadequate provision now made for playing areas, and the nhsuitability and bad condition also of the actual school buildings. He was supported \ in his plea for better grounds and better 1 schools by Mr. R. A. Wright. M.P., who aclcriowledgeu nt the outset that-the difficulties of tne Minister .were considerable. First-of-all .tile Minister had to get money, and then he might have trouble iu getting labour to net the work dene. As to money, the public would be behind the Minister in 'his clniir- for more funds, nnd if nccessnry would be prepared to carry additional taxation. He spoKe also of teachers' salaries, and asked that as there was a grave serfage of teachers b?tter 'rewards should be offered to induce young people, and especially young men, to enter the profession. He disapproved of the 'method of payment by avornge attendance at the schools Mr. Leigh Hurt made suggestions for better ground* from the point of view of town-planning.' Messrs; ;W.' E. Fuller and Simpson pleaded the ela'ms of Mount Cook. Captain Mnclndnc spoke on behalf of Northland School, making., complaint ngnin3t the board for not having put the grounds in order, evn after thry had been leveled.by the members of fhe'opmmittee He 'Tionght, too. that play grounds ouirM to be fittpd with simple gymnastic appliances such as-were commonly given to . schools thirty years ago. , . • i Health of Children, ■ Mr. W. H. Field, M/P.,' said that it *M thd duly of the Government to see that every child received medical and d"iital attrntion.- Some progress had been made in this matter in recent years, bul the object'', e. had not by illy mean! been reached. He also drew' attention to "the'm'seroblv inadequate pay" of school nur.ws-froin ,£175 to ,£2OO per year—and the insufficiency of tho travelling allowance made to - them nf !os. per. day. Dr. Platts Mills, speaking on the same subject, said that alreadv good work was done by the school medical mid dental inspection cervices. Certain ills were much less common In cousjouence, and the care of the teeth of children was certninlv better. fn regard to free treatment ?.t tin hospihls, she thought more mijht he done if the procedure for obtnin'ng it were easier and less cumbrous. A siiecial service for children, both for medical and dental treatment, might well be established, and if. would bo a good beginning for a State medicnl service. "She' drew attention to the. prevalence' of fl'ght' deformities, ef'jicclaMy among; little child-, Ten. due, in her opinion, to bad or insufficient feeding and bad housing. Phe had also ob'orved thr.f tr-rls of fourteen years or thereabouts suffered from nerves, and this wps due in her opinion Id a number of causes, among them uncomfortable homes, lack of parental control, - and unhealthy, nervous over-stimulation hv undesirable pictures. She suggested ;that although pictures were not now to ■ bad as formerly, if might be desirable to add a woman to the censorship staff Free Books, . A request for fre» school books «as made by' Mr. Hill, Brooklyn -Comm'ttee, and in-order to get the. books cheap'yhe urged that Hiev be printed and published bv the State. This ,'claim was supported by ot!«;r speakers. One declared that the burden of expenditure on school books was an illegal imposition on tho . married man—illegal because there was no authority by which any parent could bo conmeilrd to buy school! books for his children. Mr.-Ai W. Croskery dealt with the grievances of overcrowding, had furm?h'lng of schoolrooms and unsuitable desks, making special mention of Lvall Bay - School. , Mr. A. <3. Wallace urjed that some '; more provia'on should b: made for-Ihe training of teachers, and that the standard of .efficiency among teaciu'rs should be maintained' at a nigh -level. He wns careful to savthat he was not reflecting on pvrsen t ; teachers, but was asking merely that the importance of the profession' should be .recognised by the payment of adequate salaries, provision Of facilities for training I'.il teachers.'and the selection for apnointment of , those suitable for ttw work. v MINISTJFpPUES A DIFFICULT CITY. Mr. Parr, replying to the deputation, said that he regarded the work of school committees as important, and it might be that he would see opportunities in the future oi even increasing" the importance of their work. Certainly the suggestion made to hi:n in the South that be should nbo!i-:h committees, did not'find favour in his eyes. Whatever might be the future policy of the Department, he thought thai some form of school committee or school board, having ;ome form of local control, was a neee-jsniy agency. He was opposed, to the centralisation of the whole- control of education in a bureaucratic Depar'.nient in Wellington-. He did not think that such an arrangement would make ior efficiency, and'he believed that alter an experience of bticb a si stem eve,-; those now asking, for it would be'very sorry for doing so. .. Ji-egartiing .Wellington ' the tbiuis that struck him most iorcibl.v was that it was a difficult pliico, to handle educationally, owing to the configuration of the land, and the lack' of level ground anywhere, lie admitted that the present state.of things won not creditable to the city, but it was going to be an extremely difficult and expensive matter to rij»hl'it. The pusilion would have to be faced. The schools were old and out of date, and there was overcrowdingBetter sites must be secured, and better schools built on them. He wished to assure the deputation that he personally was anxious .to improve matters in WefUiiKton. He had spoken to Mr. Forsyth, chairman of the 'Education Board, and had told him tnat ho wished to have these mutter;, spjeded up, that he wished the board to go on with the acquisition of sites, and that there would be no ilelav on the part of the Education Department. He told Mr. Forsyth that, the board should use the utmost expedition in getting new sites and new buildings. In justice to the Education Board he ought to say thai he had found Mr. Forsvlh a 'most acthe and most energetic man. f The Gaol Site. The trouble about To Aro was that it wius not possible to get a new school until the Department could get (lie gaol inperve. In 1913 Mr. Herdman, then Minister of .Tintice. had said that as' sion as.the Prisons Department had done with the giiol. sl'.e I he Kdueation . Department could havo the land on which the prison stood. The prison wns still there, and it would be a. few years be'ore the land could be transferred. Sonic few weeks ago, when he learnel of Ihis dradlock, a- conference was belli on the ground, and some progress had been made as the outcome of that-.conference. A pieco of ground

tint had bern exempted 'expressly'from' th.i oft'e-. made bv Xlr. Herdman was •it present occupied.by residences nf two officials of Ihe prison. This piece of ground would serve as a site for an infant school and the Department wanted it as soon as possible. He had von'turcd to suggest to. the Prisons Department that they might give this piece of ground, and the Prisons Department had' met him in a fair spirit. It' was now for the Education Department to say whether that offer could b? accepted The Prisons Department said Hint if the Education Board would provide Uv3 other houses for the prison officials they could have this piece of land at once. The Department would pay the rent of the cottages if. the Education Board woumld secure Ithera. A Use for the Belt. To replace the Newtown School the ,b?ar.l had already under consideration We acquisition of two sites on the limit of th.3 valley. . This matter was still und r way. He would have liked to see the IMucation Board exchange the present site, which was an acre»and a lift!J in extent, for an area of some four acres of the Town Belt, on condition that the present site, which was in thf centre of a closely populated area, should be reserved for recreation purposes. Mr. Forsyth: I tried that. ' Mr. Parr said that lie hoped Mr. Forsyth would mention the matter again. He thought it would be a good bargain fo" the city of Wellington to gel nn nci'; and a half in a densely populated business centre in exchange for four acres of the Town Belt, which, so far as he could learn, was never used by.,any body. As to Mount Cook he could fav nothing, because the selection of a" site was under negotiation, and it-was not in the public interest that .he should ma-:e anything public. To replace the Clyde- Quay' School the board, m co-op-ration ■ with the Department had manned to secure a very fine site in Elizabeth Street. The.board was at present engaged in getting out olans for an infant school, and when these plans were before the Departmen a grant would be made for the school. He thought'- the deputation would see that tho Department was anxious to iinpro-> the Wellington schools'. Ho agreed with a great deal of what had been said nbout. the salaries of tef.chers. This was a matter that must come before Cabinet at an early date. Personally lie was in sympathy with the movement to give the teachers of New Zealand a decent living wage, which In had reason to believe they had not at present. .'. ■ ' Health.and Teeth, With regard to medical inspection of school children, he feared that the State was not doing enough yet in medical and dental inspection and treatment. M the present time there were 12 doctors and some 22 school nurses, and 14 physical instructors. Cabinet had lately agreed at his request to appoint twi. more doctors, and. he believed, thev wet" doing excellent work. Over 20,000 notice* had been sent out-informing parents.«f physical defects in their children, and his officers reported that on an aviage 70 to 75 per cent.' of these notice* received attention. If the schools wer* to be inspected systematically he could nmploy. double • the number of doctor,. It had Iwen found that notification-" about teeth were almost invariably n*- I glected. nnd the child allowed to grow up with unsound teeth bad not much chance of strong manhood. He would be able to make a statement shortly with regard to dental treatment. A chief dental officer would be iippniiit"il v<iry soon, to take, oharcc of .'the dental department, which would give treatment as well as make inspections-. As a multor of fact Colonel Hunter had been appointed, but owing to a misapprehension for which he, as, Minister, blamed no one. Colonel -Hunter resigned, and the Public SJSrvice Commissioner had calle-t forTipplications for tho position again. The" controller of the Department 'would, have a staff of thirteen or fourteen deutists to crive attention to school children. Some motor ambulances had been secured'from the' Defence and these would be fitted up. as "dental clitiies, and.in these-dentists would go round to the back country districts, whevo often . the teeth' of childrui were ■' not cared for at all. In the cities treatment would be given at various places;, it might be in the schools, o/ in connection with the hospital. With such a.staff giving all their time to the wort it should be possible in a short time to 'effect it very considerable impiovement in. the teeth of the children, and this 'should be reflected in an improvement in the health of the whole community. The Boofo Question. He understood that something had been done by the Department in the direction of supplying tree school books to school children. The svstem had been tried in Lite), and the renur.s. oi us operation showed that after ,£32,000 had been spent (lie system had been abandoned bee-awe parents preferred that their children should have the exclusive use. of their class books. The capitation giant now'allowed was for use only in case necessitous parents could not provide books. He expressed himself as strongly in favour of standardisation of class books for all the schools of the Dominion. But to supply all books to children at schools wou.d mean heavy expense—to supply' paper and excrci.-.V books,would cost .£4s,oo!)—and as .the question was a financial one it would have to come before his colleagues. Personally he was prepared to .'go a lonj way. to help the working man with a faitiilv who was called upon', to buy a number of school books. , . A Lot of Monoy." N The deputation had put to him a very big programme. The deinan'S for newsites and new buildings was. coming from nil over the country. There was at the same time a cry lor increases in f?alniies and an increase m certain superannuation allowances. There was a demand tor smaller classes, mid croaller v.nsMs meant mote teachers. All this meant money- Ho believed he could be mi excellent Minister of Edueat on if the people of New Zealand would give him the money. He believed, however, that there,was a kvien sentiment"in Now Zealand '.o-dav for educational extension and reform, and when such a sentiment exited Parliament would find the money. There was no stronger sehtiment in this country to-day than this passion for bettcinicnt of the education of young New Zeahinders. He believed that this passion was one of the results of the war. whi:;!i had shown the value of a young life, lie welcomed the support of the Progress League and of the' School Committees' Association.