MANUAL SCHOOL

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXV, Issue 4661, 13 February 1924, Page 2

MANUAL SCHOOL

CLAIMS or MABBOA

MINISTER'S REPLY TO REQUEST.

The long expected visit of the Hon.

C. J. Parr, Minister for Education, to Paeroa eventuated yesterday morning, when he, accompanied by Mr A. Burns, a member of the Auckland Education Board, and Mr- D. W. Dunloo. advisory inspector, arrived shortly after .10 o’clock and received deputation.. at the Coronation Chambers,

after which the Ministerial party were the guests of Mr and Mrs Poland at morning tea. The party soon afterwards paid an official visit to the Paeroa District High School, and after going through each classroom an-.l round the grounds, left for Waihi. A deputation, comprising His Worship tne Mayor and members of the Paeroa, Netherton, Karangahake, Komata, and Tirohia school committees, waited on the Minister with reference to the early establishment of a manual training school in Paeroa. The reuuest for the school, together with information and figures in support, was reduced to writing, and was read to the Minister by the secretary of the Paeroa District High School Committee, who was supported by the Mayor, Mr Poland, M.P., and Mr C. H Potter (Netherton). It was pointed out to the Hon. Min ister that 48 chidren from surround-ing-schools were at present receiving no manual instruction, which coul l be conveniently obtained at a manual school if erected in Paeroa. At the same time 38 pupils from the Karangahake school would avail themselves of manual training in Paeroa in preference to attending at Waihi, which necessitated a longer railway journey and a lengthy and dangerous railway tunnel. The figures showed that the number of pupils eligible for manual training if a .school was established in Paeroa as : Paeroa Distiet High School. 114 ; Tirohia school, 12 ; Netherton, 33 ; Roman Catholic, 10; Komata, 3 ; Karangahake, 38 ; giving a total of 210 pupils. The many objections to railway travelling to and from, Thames, and the loi.ger distance many of the pupils had to go on their return to Paeroa, we re brought under the notice of th 3 Minister again, and his attention was also' drawn to the heavy cost to the department in train fares, the danger and risk of undermining the pupils’ health, and the general disorganisation of the school under the existing arrangements. Mr Parr was also reminded that in May, 1922, the Paeroa committee had raised the sum .of £Bl, sufficient to procure the necessary money for the discounting of 5% per cent Government bonds, a system recommended by the department at that time, and to which the Government had given its assent in other places where a school building had been required. That amount had not yet been refunded by the Education Department, and the deputation urged that the money should be used by ths department for the purpose for which it was collected. .

In replying the Hon. Minister congratulated the deputation on its “hardy annual,” about which he had heard so much. Mr Parr said he had come to the conclusion that far too much time was spent and the distance was too great to permit of satisfactory instruction in manual training being obtained under eixsting conditions. He thought that the claims of J’aeroa and district were in much the .same position as they were when he visited the town over three years ago. He pointed out that the district was no worse off than dozens of other places in New Zealand, stating that of 200,000 children eligible for manual training only about one-third of them were receiving instruction. Personally, the Minister said, he was not very keen on the system of manual training. yet he did not wish 1 to decry the system completely. He was of the opinion that the children and teachers might be far better employed at the schools. Manual training should be given within limits and without inconvenience to either pupils or staff, but he thought that such training had. a tendency to be overdone. In his opinion the children from Paeroa and district should not be sent to Thames. In answer to the secretary as to what would be the position if the local children were not sent to Thames for manual instruction in vi~w of the department laying it down that such training was compulsory for Standards V. and VI. pupils, the Minister said that he would undertake to see that that difficulty was removed. His opinion Was that a technical high school was required in Paeroa, and with that object in view he had authorised the purchase of some 14 acres of land in Paeroa about four years ago. but he was not prepared to instruct his officers to undertake a £19.000 or £12,000 building on the site until there were at least 100 pupils available. The Minister considered that reasonable facilities should be provided for manual instruction, failing which the pupils should spend the time in learning the three fundamentals of education in their own classrooms. With regard to the £Bl collected, Mr Parr stated that the department had some time ago ceased to erect buildings on the Government bond system, and his advice to the committee was to apply for a refund of that sum.

In conclusion, the Hon. Minister said that he fully recognised the claims of the people, and he assured the deputation that he was quite willing to go further into the matter with his officers on his return to Wellington. The money at his disposal for educational purposes was very limited, and unless he could prevail on the Prime Minister to grant his department a much larger sum on next year’s estimates he could hold out IPtle hope that anything would be done during the year. However, he was familiar with the needs of the Paeroa people, and they could rest assured that he would do what he cbuld.