The Daily Telegraph. TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 1884.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3956, 25 March 1884, Page 2

The Daily Telegraph. TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 1884.

The annual report of the Board of the Education District of Hawke's.,Bny, for tlio year ending December.3l, IS?3, lias at last made its Whether tho delay lias been caused by trie time occupied in compiling the inmocessar3 r tabular -matter contained in the report, or in'the printing of regulations,' and the examination pfvpers, we do not know, but we would suggest, in the. interests of economy, that for the future at .least one-third of. what is now included in the report might be advantageously eliminated. From tho.report of the Chairman of the Board to the Minister of Education we learn that at the close of last year there wore in the district thirtysix schools in operation affording accommodation for 31G1 children, while the number of pupils on the rolls of the schools was 3728. It 'is interesting to notice that, since the Board was first established in 1878, the number of children attending tho schools, including the three denominational schools, has risen from 1520 to 3728. The teaching staff of the district consists of thirty-nine, certificated teachers, sixteen uncert.ificat.ed, and forty pupil teachers. Tho total cost of maintenance for the year, including bonuses to teachers and payments to School Committees, was £10,791. lCs 2d, or at the rate of £2 18s 1-Jtl per head on the average roll, and of £3 18s <ld per head reckoned on the average attendance at the schools. On the subject of school buildings the report states that', during the year the building operations of the Board have been far too limited considering the urgency of 'the requirements. It is to be regretted that the- funds annually placed at the Board's disposal for building purposes are so inadequate that works of most pressing urgency cannot bo undertaken ; also that what funds are allocated arc only placed at the disposal of the Board near the end of the financial year. A year ago it was pointed out that there were 5395 children of school age in the district, and further that the accommodation, then was insufficient for tho requirements of the children attending school. Since that report was made the attendance in tho Board schools has increased more than 9 per cent; and the Board, to meet some of the most preming cases, has been compelled to incur liabilities to the extent of nearly £1800 in anticipation' of the building grant for the current year. The works undertaken and completed before the close of tho school year include the erection of an infants' school at Gisborne, a school-house at Frasertown, additions to the school-houses at , Port Ahuriri, Taradalo, and Mcaneo, a teacher's residence at Makatoku, and improvements to the school-house at Patangata, and the residence at "Woodville. Most of tho larger schools in the district arc full, and at Matawhero, near Gisborno, the school is crowded to suffocation, the attendance being more than suflicient for double the present accommodation. A special report from the Inspector points out that the children attending the school are suffering from giddiness and sickness, brought on by tho vitiated school atmosphere. At "Woodville, Hastings, and Clive, also, the accommodation is not nearly sufficient for the requirements of those districts. Applications have been received for the erection., of school-houses at Maugatua, near Woodvillo, and Te Arai, in the Poverty Bay district, and school-houses aro badly wanted at Waerengahika, Patutahi, Onga Onga, Takapau, andMohaka. Twelve residences arc also required for the accommodation and convenience of teachers. Since 1878, that is during the past six years the grants received by the Board for building purposes have amounted to £29,617 ss. In the Inspector's general report the want of proper school accommodation is referred to in tho following manner:—" I rogrot to say that the want of needful school supply and the absence of toaohors' residences have acted in tho past, and still act, as great hindrances to the progress and growth of true educational efficiency in the district. It is true that the majority of the school districts are now fairly well provided for, but many of them have long been labouring under conditions which make success in school work next to impossible. It has been too long and too common a practice in Hawke's Bay to carry on school work with what I can only characterise as educational make-shifts, but after five years' experience of them I have come to the conclusion that an effort should be made to dispense with them altogether. A make-shift school often means a make-shift teacher and makeshift results, and I cannot rest satisfied until every child in my district has been placed, on fairly competitive terms in the way of acquiring knowledge. To me there appears no valid reason why tho smallest of tho district schools should not enjoy the privilege of good school buildings and all the accessories which go towards making a good school equally with tho largest schools, but this cannot be done until tho building requirements of _ tho district have been fully supplied. If the education of children js to be undertaken at all, I submit that; it should be with the object of training them to appreciate what is good and beautiful in all things, and all difficulties, therefore, in the way of their moral, mental, and physical progress should be minimised as much as possible. Certainly the truest economy in matters relating to the education of children is to be found in providing them with the best buildings, appliances, and teachers it is possible for money to purchase, for bad workmen with bad accommodation and appliances can only produce indifferent results at the best, and I urge upon the Board the desirability of completing the building requirements in each district, as, until tliiss has been done, the education of many children attending the schools must be incomplete and unsatisfactory.

After waiting more than twelve months, County Councils and Road Boards received the valuation rolls of ■ the tmtivo lands liable to be rated undor the Crown and Native Lands Bating. Act. Shortly after these rolls camo to hand ,1 proclfimaljqn appeared "that exempted nearly every acre of naUvo lands of any value. The rolls fixed the value of the total Maori estate in Hawke s Bay County, liable to be rated, at £287,030. The vigorous protest that'was made by Mr Sutton to the sweeping exemptions of the proclamation produced another proclamation annulling the first. Everything was then supposed' l to be arranged, and; the County Council and tho Road Boards looked forward to the receipt of the moneys due under the Crown and Native Lands Eating Act. Those bodies, however, reckoned without their host. Instead of hearing that tho money had been placed to their credit, they received by the last mail from Wellington a fresh set of valnation rolls, by; which the value of the Maori estate has , boe'u reduced by ■ £8'),G07 ! Before the money is paid several more .so-called valuation lists may bo compiled, until the native lands are discovered to be worth nothing at all. By some euoli process as this the Government may be enabled to wriggle out of its engagements, and afforij a further proof of the hollowness of Major Atkinspn-'s nostrum? for propping up the rotten system of "local" government that was given to.tho colony in the place of the real local' government wo had under provincialism.