Manawatu Herald SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 1928. EDUCATIONAL.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 3774, 31 March 1928, Page 2

Manawatu Herald SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 1928. EDUCATIONAL.

THE educational facilities now pro-' vided in Foxton for the children of the town and district should fill our townspeople with pride. The buildings provided both for primary and secondary education are of the most modern type and the environment is such as to promote the health'happiness and mental development of the children. To provide 'this has cost the State no less asuin than £20,000. It will be seen, therefore, that in this connection Foxton has reached its maximum expenditure at least for many years to come. Modern buildings and equipment, however, are not the vital factors in the education of the child. The prime factor is the teacher. We have quoted the approximate capital cost of the buildings, but it may surprise the public to learn that to provide a teaching staff, the school costs the State over £2OOO per annum. To this sum must be added maintenance costs about £2OO. Because the people are not called upon to pay directly for education, they do not give thought to these points. The teachers are trained, graded and salaried by the Department and are therefore removed from lay public control. No one will complain of the expenditure on education for upon the moulding of the lives of our children rests the destiny of the State. Therefore every teacher should be on enthusiastic expert. In all the circumstances the State and parents have the right to expect good results. Too often it is urged as an excuse for lack of proficiency that the children of such rnd such a community are below the average normal mentality. Are they?. Is it not an axiom Unit the expert gets the best resu'ts from the poorest material? We expect good results in the bread sense in Foxton. | Our tcaohos have done well in the past and it only remains for parents to co-op-erate with them to justify the increased local expenditure and to realise that the door of opportunity now stands wide open in their midst to provide their children with an education which will carry them on to the university if desired-