THE KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1906. EDUCATION IN THE BACK-BLOCKS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume I, Issue 3, 9 November 1906, Page 2

THE KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1906. EDUCATION IN THE BACK-BLOCKS.

At a recent meeting of the Land Board it was resolved, that the Board was of the opinion that a travelling teacher for outlying districts be appointed by the Education Board, as the absence of education to outlying settlers was greatly felt and was a block to settlement conditions, and if this was accepted the Land Board was prepared to supply a schedule of the localities where the. want is felt. To this the Education Board has replied that it will be glad to receive a schedule of localities out of the reach of the existing schools, where the system of the employment of itinerant teachers could be undertaken. The Commissioner of Crown Lands has now written to several residents in the King Country, including most of the Government officials, asking for information asjtothe number of children in the King Country who are too far away Jfrom the existing schools to benefit from them, and replies furnishing the approximate number required of the children in a given area of say 30 to 40 miles alongireasonable tracks or roads where the services of an itinerant teacher conld be employed ; some information of the area in which the teacher could work, the idea being that a teacher might put two days a week in one locality and get children to meet him at a convenient centre, and then move on. In some cases he might only be able to put in one day a week or two days a fortnight. We shall be pleased to receive from parents interested the required information and will forward to the proper quarter. One of the chief difficulties is that the places are so detached, and another important factor is the need of roads; still such system must do good and if the information sought for is furnished it should be possible to devise a scheme which would naturally group some of the embryo settlements and remove this serious disability. Care will be necessary that the itinerary should be such that it will not interfere with the pupils attending existing schools and by reducing those numbers so tend to starve out the teachers already in our midst.