EDUCATION

Hokitika Guardian, 11 October 1932, Page 8

EDUCATION

THE ANfIUALREPORT,,. MANY ECONOMIES. WELLINGTON, October 7, The , extent to‘ which economies in expenditure have been made in almost,/ every branch of the, service is fully detailed m the annulal report ; 'of the Minister for Education (the Hon. R which was presented in the House to-<jay. In, view. 01 the, prominence given to these economies in recent months, that aspect of, the report reveals ljttle. new information. An assurance i& given, however, that every,ogre has been taken to effect economies that will have the least harmful effect on the system as a whole. It is. pointed out that compared, with a gross expenditure of £4,11,778 in 1929-30 this year’s estimates h ave h ean reduced to £2,957,196, a decrease of £1,224,582. Many of the economies upon will not become fully ;effectiv,e for some time. For example, <the, closing, of. the, Training Coileges at Dunedin and Wellington will reduce the. . expenditure commepping in February ' next. The restriction of admission to pupils of six yetars, of age, will affect | the grading of schools during the next two years, and the sayings} will bepoipe ■effective gratlpally during that period.

, /• Rite iq. Standard. The report states, that, except among race aliens, mentally afflicted persons, and vpry yoiytg children, illiteracy In New Zealand has entirely disappeared Statistics are quoted to > show ev idenee , of the’ rise, in. the. standard, of; educai tion. Eor instance, in 1914 there were 579' unpertiftcated. and- unlicensed teachers in schools above grade (), wherefas in 1930 there were only 43. In. other j words, , the percentage of certificated teachers had. risen fi-om 74 to 93. There I had also beeri a notable advance in the ! number of university, graduates in the lianks of primary and- -secondary schpoi teachers. Similar, progress had been made iji respect to; university education>. In 1914 there were only 211 passed for degrees, but n 1930. the total, was. 521, 1 wide students holding bursaries bad increased from 155, to, T1j1.%,

Expenditure on Buildings. So far. as funds permitted the policy of providing additional accommpt\ation /where the attendance had. ihcraeked Bail i been continued/ whije. provision had j bpeh made fpf.' accommodation, in newly j settled) districts! Some, of the more out-of-date ' buildings had; bq'en remodelled, but in view of the financial, stringency those works hiaj tq giye precedence to the provision of accomitnodation where none already existed or where .the existing- accommodation wa» inadequate. The amount spent on new buildings! additions,' sites, and teachers’ residences was £262,565, compared with in, the previous .year,, j'; The 'number of, primjary and,, Junior . High Schools was 2534> a decrease of 67 on' the previous year’s total. The I decrease was almost wholly in tlie num- | her. of Schools in grades 0, l r , 'and 2, and. ! was owing partly'td the fact that ifi ~i 1930 special classes were ‘countedds ; .separate schools. That factor accounted for a decrease of 31. The balqrice of 36 was much greater than any decrease in reefent : years;“being -accounted" for (partly by consolidations,' but to a/much greater extent by tlie closing of small country ‘schools in consequence of the falling-off in attendance. ' " ; ,1: Number of Scholars.

, The number on the rolls of primary schools; in 1931 was 210,025, compared with 209,104 in 1930. Other comparisons wei'e: — 1932 1931.

Regularity of attendance had continued at a highly satisfactory level, being 92.6 of the (average weekly roll, the'; highest average yet. recorded. The avetage number of primary school childen to'each adtilji class teacher’, in was! 32< compared with 31 in the previous year. f “Admittedly there are still some large classes,” says. the. report-, ‘ but 'as in 1930 the financial' situation has precluded any definite progress in the scheme (fibr the reduction, oil large classes throughput the Don)inion. f V ..

Private and Primary schools ... ;-'••• 25,511 25.484 Seqpndary school 16,445 16,474 /Technical classes 10,536 11,829 iTcphnioal High schools 8,541 '8,002