The Hastings Standard Published Daily FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 1897. SCHOOL COMMITTEES.

Hastings Standard, Issue 310, 30 April 1897, Page 2

The Hastings Standard Published Daily

FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 1897. SCHOOL COMMITTEES.

For the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrongs that need resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that we can do.

The election of School Committee* each year discloses some peculiar if not altogether pleasant features, and It is a question for consult- ration whether or not the system cannot be improved. The disgraceful proceedings at Motupiko on Monday evening lastdemonstrate that there is something wanting. In educational matters, or what is good or bad for children, we can always get as many opinions as their are people. Each parent has some special notion of how his or her curled darling should be taught, and when it should be taught. This makes the position of the schoolmaster an unt viable one. He has so many peo;>l>- to plea-* 1 , and if he h:\pivn-: tv d:-plea~e- half a do/en or mot. pv'pi*, -lit-!'. h> li:- .t - a bunion to him. f"!' th - ii.in-iri:> can make niatw-rs vt-rv sultrv f<.>r Iran. Ttu- M--*.-pik<t affair n> .iriy itii 'ijjh what i \.:r- !•.' irato part-i!T-> v>ill go i. * ■ i:- 1 "*"■ di: n i annov a:• aeL»-r. Wt* are than suspicious that the people expect t<x> much from t«4chtrs. aii

are only human with faults and fail- I ings, and when we know the hundred i and one trials and troubles they are called upon-to endure each school day wonder that there are not more such | scenes as that at Motupiko. We have got into the habit of looking upon the teachers as legitimate victims for baiting, and now the teachers endure it is more than we can understand. The schoolmaster in New Zealand as we know him compares, we should say, very favorably with nis congener elsewhere ; but there are black sheep in every foJd, and here and there a bad or incompetent teacher may be found. Even if we admit this, and assume for argument's sake that teacher at Motupiko is incompetent, that does not supplyany reason for the outrage reported from that wayside village. It saysvery little for our local Government. Surely if there are any complaints to be made against a teacher they can be made by the aggrieved parties with becoming dignity. Ash sticks and pick-axe handles are the weapons of an unreasonable mob, and it is a perfect disgrace that school affairs should be made subject to mob rule. But warfare at school committee elections is becoming a very common thing in New Zealand, and it is time the whole educational system was overhauled. The abolition of School Committees would not be detrimental to our schools, and may be beneficial. It seems absurd to have Education Boards and School Committees. The School Committees appear to be the foundation of all trouble and mischief. They are either quarrelling with the Education Board, with the teachers or parents. The reason for this is easily seen. The members of School Committees, as a general rule, are not composed of the best men in the locality, but of illiterate and unreasonable people, who, clothed with a brief authority, never fail to show their possession of it. Membership of a School Committee is not highly valued, hence the unsuitable and incompetent find it easy enough to secure election. School Committees are a failure, they are not valued by the people, and should therefore be abolished. We are, however, not to be understood as casting any reflection upon the School Committees of this district, the members of which, so far as we know, have always done their best, without fuss or friction. A few more scandals such as the Motupiko one will seal the fate of School Committees.