LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 149, 19 March 1921, Page 9

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

AN UNWARRANTED CHARGE DR BENNETT AND THE COLLEGE GOVERNORS. Sir, —In your columns of to-day appeared a report of an address given by Dr. Agnes Bennett at a gathering at the Pioneer Club with regard to women’s activities in public life. The words of the speaker, if she is correctly reported, were as follow: — "Were women upon some of ilie governing bodies of our civic life she was sure that the present state in regard to the Wellington Girls’ College would not have come into existence. There they had a condition of affairs in which the Girls’ College hod for their outdoor recreation only an acre and a quarter of ground. They were so crowded that different buildings had to be obtained in which to carry on the school work and there was the Boys’. College with 70 acres for their use, and with all kinds of facilities provided for their out-of-door .needs. It was incredible that a body of men could be so unfair to girls, especially when they administered the affairs of both institutions.” This is not the first time that Dr. Bennett has similarly expressed herself. She spoke in the same strain at la meeting of ladies held some little time ago. The governors on that occasion con sideted whether some reply should be made, but decided to disregard the remarks as being idle vapourings. On tihis occasion Dr. Bennett goes so far as to impute deliberate unfairness to the board and therefore os chairman’ of the board I take it on myself to reply to her. Let mo take fihe speaker's statements in detail, and examine them. The first statement is that "were women upon some of the governing bodies of our civil life she was sure that the present siiate of affairs in regard to the Wellington ! Girls’ College would not have ooms into [existence.” Is Dr. Bonnett unaware Giat for many years a woman, Miss Mary I Richmond, did sit on the board, and did exqellfent work. I was a member for some time with her, and I cannot say that I ever 'heard her complain of partiality or bias on the part of the. male members towards Wellington College, or ever heard a suggestion from her that the gils’ school was starved or neglected. TTie next statement refers to a comparison of ‘he areas occupied by tho two institutions—one and a quarter acres by the girls and seventy by the boys. In tho first place, the figures are misleading—of the. seventy acres in tho college reserve approximately only half is of any use for building or playing fields. The rest is steep hillside, suitable only I for grazing. But apart from that, does Dr. Bennett seriously attribute this difference to the Board of Governors? It has its roote far in the past. The present site and grounds of Wellington College were set apart for educational purposes for a boys’ .school at a time when the question of providing public school education for girls had hardly risen above the horizon. Moreover for many years no complaint was heard as to the inadequacy of space at the girls’ school, and the present position has arisen in large measure owing to the great increase in numbers in recent years as a result of the free place system. Tho next point is the difference in facilities provided for outdoor games, a question that is largely bound up with the one just dealt with. Presumably Dr. Bennett has in her mind the magnificent grounds of Wellington College, but she must surely be aware that these are not due to any generosity on the part of tho board or a lavish expenditure of its funds for the benefit’ o f the boys. Those playing fields were the work of the late headmaster, Mr. J. P. Firth. Tho cost of their formation came mainly out of Mr. Firth’s own pocket, assisted by donations from old boys and other well-wish-ers of the school. The fine baths that the school possesses were the gift of Sir Francis and Lady Bell, in memory of their son. The observatory that crowns a hill was, I believe, constructed outl of funds raisod by the boys themselves. So far as I am aware, all that the board has done is to make an annual vote towards the expense of maintaining the grounds.

A further complaint, is that the girls’ school is so overcrowded that different buildings had to be obtained in which to carry on the school work. The inference is! that tho boys’ school is carried on in palatial quarter's. . The fact is, that the boys’ school is just as overcrowded as the girls’; classes are held in a converted gymnasium. an armoury, and various other temporary structures. Parts of tho main college building are fifty years old, and the whole building was described to me by a high educational authority as the most hopelessly out of date secondary school in the Dominion.

And yet Dr. Bennett accuses the governors of deliberate unfairness to tho girls, and implies that all their interest and the expenditure of all their money has been for the benefit .of the boys’ school.

What, then, are the facts? It is quite true that both schools are in urgent need of extension. No one is more aware of that fact than the Board of Governors. The funds of the board, however, do not suffice for much more than carrying on the institutions. No new buildings can be erected without Government assistance. The exigencies of the war and the various claims for Government grants since its conclusion have made it difficult to obtain grants for school building purposes. Notwithstanding this, the board has been active in pressing on the present Minister of Education and his predecessor the needs of the institutions under its control; and what was the first, thing that this 'unfair board’ asked for and has obtained ? Tt has obtained a promise of for a supplementary girls’ high school in Wellington South. After much search for a site with an adequate area, it has decided to cut off from the Wellington College grounds an area estimated to bo approximately twenty acres, upon which to build the school. A tender for the work of preparing the site has just been accepted. This site has been inspected and approved by the authorities of the Education Department and the headmistress of the Girls' College. Further,' the board has acquired recently, in tho vicinity of the present school, at n cost of several thousand pounds, several cottages, with a view of enlarging the school area, and steps are being taken with a view to acquiring further, land in the vicinity. Quite recently the board, in order to supply a boardinghouse or hostel in connevvion with the girls’ school, purchased Dr. Collins’s residence, with its commodious grounds, and has spent money in altering it to make it fit for its pif.zpose. I have not before me the records of the board, but I foel assured that during the last ten years the amount of money (exclusive of salaries) spent by the board upon the Girls' College fnr exceds that spent on Wellington College. Such is the "unfairness” wilh which Dr. Bonnett taxes the board. The position of a member of a board of governors entails much sacrifice of time; it is gratuitous, and if the members re ceivo no thanks for their work, they may at least be spared such an unwarranted charge as Dr. Bennett has seen fit to level against them. I am not nt present concerned with the movement in respect of which Dr. Bennett was speaking, but I feel convinced that such an attack as she has made is not calculated to advance her cause witii right-thinking, fair-minded people. —I am,

W. F| WARD, Chairman of the Hoard of Governors of the Wellington College and Girls’ High School. March 17.