SCHOOL CHILDREN.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5485, 9 October 1929, Page 3

SCHOOL CHILDREN.

QUESTION OF CONVEYANCE. MR. SAMUEL IN THE HOUSE. In the House of Representatives last week Mr A. M. Samuel referred to the subsidies granted towards the cost of conveying children to schools in outlying districts, and to the recent request made to the Minister for a grant of £5 for a horse-paddock at the Waihi South school. The sum of £12,000 per annum, he said, was provided for assisting children to proceed by rail to their educational studies, and the sum of £55,000 for subsidies in connection with road conveyance of children to school. Many school children rode to school on horseback, and some accommodation was necessary adjacent to the school grounds for pasturing the horses while the children were attending to their studies. He asked the Minister if fie proposed to lay it down as an invariable rule that no direct grant was to be given to any school committee for this purpose. As a certain amount of money was saved by children riding their horses to school instead of taking the train or a bus, the request appeared to be a reasonable one. Most of these pupils were the children of men employed industrially, and the provision of accommodation for the horses would throw a heavy burden upon the parents. That the Auckland Education Board felt strongly in regard to this matter would be apparent to the Minister from the following Auckland telegram which had appeared in the “Evening Post” on the previous day :

“To show our disdain we will pay the amount ourselves,” said Mr A. Burns, chairman of the Auckland Education Board, at its meeting yesterday, when the Education Department advised that it was not prepared to pay the whole cost (£5) of providing a horse paddock at the Waihi South school. The department added that it would subsidise any money raised by the parents of the children riding to school. Members objected to the department’s attitude, and it was decided to carry out the chairman’s suggestion.” Mr Samuel said he trusted that the Minister would give the matter his further careful consideration.

The Paeroa School.

Interviewed on the above subjects by a representative of this paper, Mr J. C. H. McDonald, chairman of the Paeroa District High School‘Committee, commented as follows : — “The Paeroa District High School Committee has made repeated efforts to arrange for the conveyance of children from the Awaiti district to and from the school, but as the Government subsidy of 6d per child proved to be inadequate the Auckland Education Board very generously agreed to subsidise the 6d by 3d, thus making the amount 9d per child per day. This amount proved too little, and although a canvass was made on several occasions of the various motor proprietors they would not have anything to do with it.

“The members of the committee then canvassed the parents of the children. concerned, and they agreed to pay 3d per child per day. Thus the amount offered to contractors was Is per child per day. “At this latter figure a motordriver offered to take the contract, but later notified the committee that he could not carry on as it would be necessary to register his lorry as a passengercarrying vehicle. This, he said, would cost him about £l2 per annum. “Further efforts were made, but no motor proprietor will take on the work, the reason given being the cost of registration of the motor vehicle. “The question of registration of the motor was referred to the Auckland Education Board by the committee, and in reply ; it was stated that the board knew of no way in which a motor vehicle would be exempted from registration as a passenger carrier.

“The committee finally abandoned efforts in respect of the conveyance of children by motor, and the children are now getting to school the best way they can of their own accord. The number of children so affected is fifteen, and as they are unable to get to school on wet days the average attendance is considerably lowered. “From the foregoing it is quite clear that: (1) The grant of 6d per child per day is inadequate ; and (2) some concession should be allowed the motor owner in the way of registration fees.

“Regarding the subsidy paid for children riding to school on horseback, about 12 pupils of this school ride their own horses, a paddock being provided for the horses during the day. This paddock is provided with a saddle sheltershed, the cost of erection of this shed having been paid by the Auckland Education Board. None of the 12 pupils mentioned receives any subsidy, as it is necessary to certify that the roads are unsafe for wheel traffic before any payment will be made. Thus it is clear that although a subsidy is offered by the department, the conditions attached to the granting of it prevent the Paeroa pupils from taking advantage of it. “As a final word we would like the grant to be paid to pupils riding their own horses, say, over a distance of two miles without the condition that roads must be certified as unsafe for wheel traffic.”