TROUBLES SCHOOL COMMITTEES.

Motueka Star, Volume III, Issue 110, 2 September 1902, Page 4

TROUBLES SCHOOL COMMITTEES.

A deputation -representing .the. School Committees of Wellington, an<V‘ eXpressing the views of similar bo lies in .most other . parts of the cold.iv. placed their' ‘ grievances before the Minister for Education last week. " ' % Wishart (Roseneath) said School Committees were la bon r ng on d ex* very grave d i dva nta ges from a financial point of view. This had been going oh. for some time, but it was now becoming so' acute that Committees, were getting restless owing to the wani' of funds for carrying out their necessary duties. Toe capitabi«m allowsim-e for the Kiwseneath Bchool, for instance, was. £2o' A year, and out- of the r y had to pay T 24 a. year doi cleaning alon4. -XEdughtey.)' Then they .had to pay for jsatiifcMtion } impairs, and any other i 2i cMeff&ff expenses thdt might arise. Thb'X?drfiatit‘t&e on ail average a year to keep the. school going,’ hnVT that was only an eX- * ample of mVuiv'others, and when they we iit to the jdoard they gbt the ‘ on,ti reply : “We h iVe'.absolutely .nothing to give yoft;”T‘ill members. of Bchool Committees tohl> a great pride in the ’ schools, add it deemed hard lines: that they could not get sufficient to go on with. Again, they .'had no legal status, and were veiy rarely consulted, but if anything Went,' wrong it was they who were ended npoii; that was the only; time they v.*ere recognised as a committee. What* they asked was that Scho d Committees should™be ’ pift upon a sound financial basis, and the amount they were to receive fixed by Act. , Mr Salkeld (Thorndou) referred to th e necessity for a Truant Officer being J appointed. For some time there was a Truant Officer for the Wellington district, but he had to be taken oft'that Work owing to the Board requiting more clerical assistance. The Board then notified that'The head teachers"' an d the Comtn it tee m ust see to that business, but Mi Salkeld pointed out how difficult it was for the teachers and the Committee to perform that duty, and in what an invidious position it was likely to.place them.

Mr Brunskill (Id.tnd Bay) said his Committee only got £IG a pear, which wa.-s nothing like xfiificient, the result being that two or- three times a year they had to get up an entertainment to provide funds to carry on the school. Mr J. Richards (Te Aro) said twice a year his Committee had to send round the hat for money to buy coal t 6: keep the children warm. The Committee were nothing more than beggars or slaves, and they got no thanks for it.

The Minister for Education. (Hon. W. 0. Walker) said he sympathised with the deputation, because he was very much in the same position as they were. He had to make 20s do what he would like to get 40s tor. (Laughter) At the same time, he had been able during his years of office to get a considerable increase to what had hitherto been spent on education, and he was sorry they were not satisfied with the share they had received. But it was only fair to the Government to say that it had done its best to make tv ings better. For instance, the effect of the passing of the Teachers’ Salaries Act was that whereas on the average during the last three years before the Act was passed tho Boards had L 62,000 for their own administration and* incidentals, the Act gave them Lfifi.ooo. He was only sorry that the extra L4OOO had not, reached tlie Bchool Committees. Tce ; n, as to the •imounts paid 'to School Committees: The Auckland Committees received an .average'of 5s lid per child ; Taranaki 5s 8d j Wanganui 3s lOd ; W’ellington

JQd ffisjr j 6 ; Marl-, y borough . 5s 5d ; Nelsop,. 7s: Td j•: North Can te r bux y ifld ; South fCaintjtfrbury ss ; ; Otago 5s ; Southland 5s 6d ; anffi the average s for the 'colony was 5s . Vld.: ‘

.It was pointed put-by a, member, cf the deputation that the complaints from School Comniittees came from all •over the colonrv. - .

The Minister : . It’sno worse, than it was ten, years ago. , • *

; Mr * But we .are asking you to remedy . ; ; d, , • I do any you. all.. gpt;>hat yqu want*.'but -a gyoat deal, has *been done- to make school, ma.pagf.mept easier than ;it was yqarsagu. If J)e could help them. N vonly too glad. , .... Mi' WLliartq We, want to. obviate ,/lb •• . ;. , TV© ; Minister : q You can’t obviate “the bat. V,As to tmamryquestion, -. he thought the proper.persons \yith that f were the School Committees. •« the Committees represent' the, public conscience of the community, anil it was their duty to see that any man .who would not send his children to school was shamed into sending them ? , Mr Wishart pointed out that it. -raised a feeling of antagonism against tise head master or the Committee. The Minister: You represent the public conscience of the district, and ought to look upon any parent who won’t send his child to school as a public enemy, ami treat him accordin <v lv. The deputation : We 4 are not policemen. The Minister : Well, you ought to be. (Laughter.) Mr Higginbotfom pointed cut that >f n comroitteeman who was in business , did dis duty in tliat respect he might lose his, business. Befoie they would stoop to make themselves policeman they would all z*esign. - The Minister: Then there is no educational system, if you wonT the stimulus ,t,o the public convenier-c e. Mr Higginbottom : We can’t do it, because we have to make our living. The deputation urged the Minister t° say if he oofild hold out any hope of improving thqir position, but he only replied that the Boards were getting L4OOO moi e than before, and the Committees -ought to get. their proportionate share. He was averse to - doing anything which would give the Boards the oppnrtunity of saying that their power < f initiative had been restricted still fur.th or. Mr Wishart : Can you give us any hope ? Really, we are in extremis. The ca c e is serious. The Minister : I believe the Boards are better supplied with money for incidentals than ever they were. After further conversation on the same lines the deputation thanked the Minister, and the interview ended.