Manawatu Herald. SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 1905. SCHOOL COMMITTEES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 3515, 29 April 1905, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 1905. SCHOOL COMMITTEES.

Once again has the annual selection of comimttvfes K* V.-nJOU OVfc-r the biTVcdil, oJ i);o children attending our national schools been carried out, and it is instructive to pause n moment at id loo*, earemllv ill the whole S' iml Libit anil process of maintaining that situation. As at present consti,toted cobnol ccbinri'!ce:t have little to no beyond caring for the physical Welfare ol scholars bv seeing that buildings are. kept in a sanitary condition, and,to do this they arc allowed a miserable pittance by. way of capita ■ tion. The real power to do anything of lasting benefit lies with the central Government department in Wellington, acting nominally through th’e several education hoards, who in turn govern the actions of the many committees. Everything that has to be done is carried out on lines set down by official intelligence, which, it is notorious, does not always exhibit sound common sense. It must be

apparent to any thinking person that conditions vary according to locality, and that therefore flic same hard and fa-t iidea cannoi he applied with beneficial resuih*. in all cases. Departmental sag eii v d cs not recognise tins, except it be in the case of the school literal m e is.ed in (he different education districts. In this instance (here is a charming variety of textbooks is use, but we cannot see how it is to -he reconciled to the boasted national system of education ” said to obtain in this colony. Reverting to the election of school committees, die “ New Zealand Times ” points out (hat there is very urgent need for an improvement in the system. To r often a few householders turn out to a meeting, hear the annual report read and a statement of accounts submitted, and go home again. We find from exchanges that on Tuesday last cases occurred where not sufficient interest was shown to enable meetings to he held, and again then; was at least one instance in which all present, including a pressman, were, so to speak, impounded and elected ‘■without alternative” to act on the committee. At Foxton, happily, a better state of things prevailed, and a c immittee was elected which promises to do good work; but still wc would ask : are the 250 children attending the Foxton State School .adequately represented by an attendance of 50 or 60 persons at the meeting of householders? Wc hardly think so. It is time that the powers and privileges of committees should be extended and responsibilities defined more clearly. As the “ Times ” observes, “ local control is a good tiling, hut the control exercised by committees at present is restricted to mailers of no moment whatever; and these bodies, having very limited funds are reduced to ‘ going round with tiie hat ’ whenever they de-ire to do anything to further the cause of education. They should certainly have the means to do more than is at present possible in the wa\ - of furnishing librar'es, gymnasia, etc., for pupils. The most important function entrusted to tlv m—that of consulting with the hoards as to the selection of teachers—is render, d almost nuga'ory by the tactics of some boards.” In this respect an agitation was some time since, initiated by the Petone School Committee, and largely supported by committees throughout the colony, which it is hoped will improve matters very considerably. From Canterbury comes a suggestion that committees should be elected on parliamentary representation and the elections c.ifried 0:11 in the day time, nominations closing sewn days previously. The development ot our infant life is a mailer ol vital importance, and any movement that will lend to aid in securing that development on the most advantageous lines should he welcomed by every true man and woman.