The Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. THURSDAY, JANUARY 28. 1886. THE FOXTON SCHOOL.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1620, 28 January 1886, Page 2

Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. THURSDAY, JANUARY 28. 1886. THE FOXTON SCHOOL.

The report of the sub. committee appointed by the Education Board to report on the condition of the Foxton School reveals an exceedingly undesirable state of things m connection with that institution. It will be remembered that the Inspector recommended the teachey to "resign, which action on his part the Committee denounced m no measured terms;, accusing the Inspector of animus, partiality, &c. After the matter had been discussed at a Board meeting* a subcommittee consisting of Messrs Bakkr, Fry, and Hoss were appointed to make a personal visitjof inspection and report the results ot their investigation. That report appears elsewhere. That this report is condemnatory m the highest: degree iof school management and discipline at Foxton will be apparent even by a cursory perusal. A more damaging statement of facts we have never seen m connection with a matter of the kind. We also find one of the sub-committee, Mr Baker, when speaking at the Board on the subject of the report saying that the school reflected credit neither on the Board, the local committee, nor the teacher. He had no idea there was A?as such a disreputable school m "the ' district. Mr Stevens considered it would be a disgrace for the Board to allow such a state of things to cortinue. The Board had to do its duty fearlessly, and all shortcomings should be investigated. The Chairman alluded to the great want ef courtesy shown by 3VIr Thynne all through. There was not a single statement he had made \ which was supported by anything m the report, or anything that had come under their notice. His correspondence had been of an insolent, dictatorial character. Mr Thynne was one of Her Majesty's Justices of the Peace, and . should have known better. Once that school had been a credit to the district, but it was now the very reverse, and m a certain manner this reflected somewhat on the Board, though not m the same degree as it did on the local committee. It is satisfactory to know that the Inspector's grounds of complaint have been proved justifiable, and that he has been exculpated from the charges so freely leVelled igainst him of undue preference," having a down upon certain teachers, 1 " &c. It would appear that what the Foxton Committee value most . m a teacher are "social qualities," — not competence m his professional capacity. The Foxton School was once the best managed and most creditable school m the Board's district, and now its condition is such as to make all concerned feel deeply humiliated. We think the result would haye 11 justified the instant removal of the^ teacher, as m our opinion his longer^ retention of his present position is very likely to be accompanied with undesirable results. , It. is satisfactory to note that notwithstanding the, abuse, misrepresentation, and scurrility so lavishly heaped on the Board, that its members had the courage of their convictions, and were determined to " see the thing out " and ascertain how matters really stood. It is a pity that Mr Th YNNEhas placed himself m such an unpleasant and unenviable position. We presume the next thing will be a valedictory presentation to Mr Forsyth, with the inevitable address, and possibly a purse 6f sovereigns to atone to some extent for bis dismissal. An attempt will be made to make him out a martyr, though*in the face of the report we do not see how success, can attend any attempt of the kind. The obvious moral to school committees is to see for themselves, By careful inquiry and by frequent visits of inspection that theteachers fulfil theirduties efficiently and conscientiously, irrespective altogether of the features of personal attainments or " social qualities 11 the latter apparently beihg : considered a sine qua nori } by the Foxton School Committee. We 1 ' commend a careful perusal ' of the' report to the various school committees throughout his and the adjacent school districts. » ,; c