PIO PIO SCHOOL.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 340, 25 February 1911, Page 5

PIO PIO SCHOOL.

BUILDING AT ONCE. Anyone who has been in the King Country (aays the. "Star") knows that the people there feel that the Auckland Education Board is out of touch with the district partly owing to distance, and partly other causes. A paragraph to this effect appeared in the "Star" the other evening, and it was mentioned that the King Ceuntryitcs talked about seceding from Auckland's domination. The chairman of the board (Mr Parr) took exception to this complaint. Mr Kdgciimbe, who has just been down in the disaffected areas, said he had heard the same complaints. The people were talking about asking for the creation of a district between Auckland and Tarauaki, or else that they might be attached to the Southern district,. Mr Parr contended that the board had always done its duty by the backblocks, and had established quite a considerable number of school.* - , in the last year or two. lie thought much of the trouble lay in the slackness of the residents, who were dilatory in supplying the board with the necessary information after an application was made. if the settlers were "up and doing" it would lie better for the children. In one case quoted in the "Sta<:" paragraph, the board lnul not received any reply at ill! to to its applications for certain in formation, and in two other cases the board had sent the aplications on to the Education Hoard, whose decision was now awaited. As for Manunui school it was quite erroneous to say it was overcrowded. The chairman admitted there was some delay in dealing with applications for schools. Mr Edgcumbe remarked it had been customary to get the inspector to report "when lie visits, the district," mid this led to delay. The chairman said lie believed six months elapsed in one instance, and on his. motion if was decided to refer the matter of dealing with King Country application -, to a committee tor consideration with a view of improving the system. There is no school building at Pio Pio, but. school has been held there | daily in the only available building in

the district, which happens to be a Maori hall. Everything wont well until a Maori conference or tangi, ur some ether kind of assembly of natives had to meet, and than, of course, the school got the worst of it, and the pupils have to be taught tinder a tree somewhere about, Lately the Maoris turned the school children out permanently. Of course the residents want a real school building, and they have the board for it. All the preliminary inspections have been made, and the necessary preliminary work done, so that the. building will no doubt be gone on with at once. "We must get on. with this business," said Mr C. J. Parr. "They've only got a tent down there now, and a tent isn't the most comfortable, sort of habitation in the King Country in the winter time. We must Jose no more time, or we shall have another screed in the newspapers."