EDUCATION BOARD.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5377, 21 June 1878, Page 6

EDUCATION BOARD.

Wednesday, May 29. The ordinary monthly meeting of the Education Board was held on Wednesday. Present: The Hon. C. J. Pharazyn, Hon. Mr. Gisborce, Mr. Buuny, M.H.R., Mr. G. Beetham, M.H.R., Messrs. Hutchison, Toomath, Archdeacon Stock, and Rev. Mr. Paterson. The Inspector reported that the balance at the bank was £3368 10s Bd, The following letter from the Education Department was then read : Education Department, May 23rd, 1878. Sir,—Referring to circular No. 2 (Feb. 12,1878), and to your Board's estimates of expenditure for year ending June 30, IS7S, I forward to you a statement of your Board’s accounts for the current financial year. The figures are in most cases taken from the estimate above referred to. The Government has agreed for this year to contribute towards the salaries and travelling expenses of inspectors. The vote “in lieu of capitation tax” yields about 11s. 3d. per head on the aggregate average attendance. You will notice that your Board has received out of the ordinary educational vote (No. 31), up to the end of April, the sura of £6195 6s. 2d. in excess of the amount payable to the Board out of this vote for the entire year ending June 30.1878, and that £2OOO out of the grant of £IO.OOO to Wellington and Wanganui Building Fund has been received by your Board. You will receive shortly a copy of regulations for the taking of the daily average attendance, and also return forms of quarterly attendances for the use of School Committees and Educational Boards. You will also receive information as to the mode in which payments to Boards will be made after the close of the financial year,—l am, &c., John Hislop. Secretary Education Board. The following statement of accounts for year ending June 30, 1878, was read : (1.) 4000 attendance for 9 months 1200 less for Wanganui 2800 attendance for 3 months -1

Grant from vote for school building, Wellington and Wanganui .. .. 10,000 0 0 Received to end of May 2,009 0 0 Balance unpaid 8,000 0 0 Note.—The figures are from Board’s estimate for year ending June 30, 1878. The two following memorandums re the establishment of a normal school were read and referred to the committee appointed for that purpose : I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 4th inst. with regard to the establishment of a normal school which will be subraltjed to the Minister upon his return to Wellington. I may state, however, that the general question in regard to normal schools throughout the colony will shortly be gone into, and must receive very full consideration. Until a decision is come to thereupon, probably no definite reply can bo given to your letter. lam directed by the Minister to state in reply to your letter of the 4th inst. relating to the establishment of a training institution in Wellington, that Government will contribute a sum not exceeding £IOOO in the course of the next financial year towards the maintenance of the proposed institution should such be established by your Board. The grant will be made on the express condition that the institution will be carried on in accordance with such regulations as may bo made by the Governor-in-Councilin accordance with the provisions of the Act. The InspectorGeneral will shortly be in Wellington, and I am in hopes that the regulations required by section 100 (6) of the Act will soon be drafted. John Hislop. Secretary Education Board. Sir,—l have the honor to report that I have examined during the present month all the schools not included in my last report, except those at Matarawa and Kaipaitauga, which are temporarily closed until new appointments are made. The Wninuiornata school, under Mrs. Palmer, has an increased attendance of thirty children. The general condition of the work was much improved, and there was promise of still greater improvement. The Tauherinlkau school is falling off in attendance, but the work is satisfactory. The decreased attendance arises from the few children in the district. The Tenui school, under Mrs. Scales, is in good working order. The results reflect groat credit on both the late master and the present mistress. In the Mauriceville school no less than seven nationalities are represented, but only ten out of a total of 47 on the books are of British parentage., I was pleased with the jirogress made in acquiring a knowledge of English. Nearly all can read easy narrative, and eleven passed the first of the new standards. The copybook writing was too difficult. The Opaki school, under Miss Mathews, is well conducted and taught. At present most of the children are infants. In the Waingaroa school good work has been done during the past year. Except the reading the work was presented in very good form. Under the new arrangement the schoolroom should be more tidy. Gladstone school is satisfactorily taught and well managed by Miss Robertson. The room was exceedingly neat and clean. Writing is particularly well taught. I have examined the above seven schools according to the classification of the new standards, with the following results:—

A teacher has been appointed to the vacant school at Matarawa. There is a probability of a larger school being required in the Kaipaitangata District.— I have, &c M , ,„ , , Robert Lee, Inspector of Schools. Hon. C. J. Pharazyn, Chairman Education Board, Wellington. The Secretary intimated that out of the seven persons elected to form the Te Aro School Committee five of their number were not residents in the district, and were consequeutly not eligible. The secretary also stated that the two gentlemen who were legally elected could not appoint the other five. The Act provided that in default of a committee being elected for any school district, the Board should appoint a commissioner who should select the requisite number of persons required. It was resolved,—That the Board should act as if no public meeting had yet been called, and that a public meeting be called on Monday, the 10th June, for au election. Several tenders were received for the erection of a new school at Opaki. Mr. Betherick’s tender of £287 was accepted. The Secretary stated that he had received a letter from the committee of the Mount Cook school, asking the Board to grtut a sum of money for the erection of a girls’ class-room. Mr. Paterson said the additions were quite necessary, and that very shortly in all probability further additions in the way of classrooms would be required. On the motion of Mr. Toomath, it was resolved,—That the matter be referred to the Inspector to report on, and if he consider immediate action necessary, the Building Committee be authorised to take the necessary steps to obtain tenders for the work. The committee also asked that the school should be satisfied with two black boards, which could be moved by means of pulleys.

The Clerk stated that their cost was between £9 and £lO, and that the ordinary blackboards cost only £l. The Board decided that that the outlay of £9 or £lO for blackboards was a useless expenditure, when the cheaper ones answered all purposes. A letter was received from tho secretary of tiie Carterton School Committee, stating that the committee had passed a resolution requesting that in consequence of the unsatisfactory state of the school another head teacher should be appointed. The chairman of the same committee wrote stating that he considered tho letter was the result of personal malice. The Inspector said that for the last two years the school had been in a most unsatisfactory state. The school had hot improved at all

lb was resolved that the letter be sent to the schoolmaster for his perusal. A letter was received from the Terrace School Committee, asking to be supplied with ordinary school furniture. After some little desultory conversation on tho subject, the matter was referred to Messrs. Toomatb, Hutchison, and Paterson, who were appointed a committee, Mr. Hutchison asked the Inspector who made the appointment of teachers 1 Tho Secretary replied that the appointments were made through his (the secretary’s) nomination, but that such nominations had to be confirmed by the local committee.

Mr. Hutchison said that during his connection with the present Board he had never known of the appointment of any teacher to come before them. He said he would bring the matter forward at some future date. NOTICES OF MOTION. By Mr. Hutchison, — That all appointments of teachers under the Board to be made by minute, the said minute to contain the date of appointment, the education grade of the teacher, and the salary of the office at the time. By Mr. C. Phaeazyn,— That a committee bo appointed to consider the question of school furniture, with a vie v to arrange so tar as possible for supplying the schools on a uniform system, to be used by the local committees as a guide in making applications for what they require. By Mr. C. Puakazvn,— I That all applications for new buildings or additions be referred to the Inspector and Building Committee to report thereon, before tenders are wanted, tor the consideration of the Board. The adjourned meeting of the Board was held at 2.30 p.tn. on May 30. Present—The Hon. 0. J. Pharazyu (in the chair), Rev. Mr. Paterson, Messrs. Hutchison, Toomath, O. Pharazyn, and Beetham. DEPUTATION. A deputation, consisting of two residents of Johnsouville, had an interview with the Board concerning some necessary repairs to the district school. Mr. Toomath stated that after he left the Board on the occasion of its previous sitting he received a letter from Mr. D. Brown, the master of the Jolmsonville school, with reference to these repairs, and asking whether it was the intention of the Board to carry them out before the winter set in. [The letter was read.] Addressing the deputation on behalf of the Board, Mr. Toomath said it was the intention of the Board at once to proclaim the district, and the proclamation would inform the residents when they could meet and appoint a local committee, and they would then have the machinery at disposal whereby they could carry out the repairs that were required. The Act would then empower the local committee to give effect to anything they required in this direction.

The Rev. Mr. Paterson said it was quite agreed by the Board to have these repairs carried out before the winter set in, but after the election of a local committee in accordance with the Act, that body could carry out all the repairs and alterations that were required to be done.

Mr, Toomath said that after the residents elected the local committee the repairs and alterations and the costs could be sent in to the Board, and the necessary steps could then be taken for carrying them out as soon as possible, As a first step the local committee must be elected. The deputation thanked the Board and withdrew. REPORT OP THE COMMITTEE. The following report of the committee was brought up : “ Ist. That it does not appear that the Board now owes any money to the Wanganui Board, with the exception of the library grant referred to hereafter, and it may be some small sum of capitation payment. That the expenditure incurred by the Board, while It embraced Wanganui, and extending over a period of nine months of the .present financial year, cannot be gone into with any reason, as the whole provincial district was then represented, and the wants of every locality were fairly attended to ; but as the separation of the two boards has inevitably led to some complication of accounts, the committee see no objection to acceding to the suggestion of the Wanganui Board, that a Government officer be appointed to go into the accounts and adjust them on a basis fair to both boards, and the committee recommend this course to the Board, “ 2nd. With regard to the library grant of £556 75., the committee recommend that it be apportioned on the basis of population—say a sum of £370 18s. to Wellington, and £lB5 9s. to Wanganui. “The Rev. Mr. Paterson dissents from the first portion of paragraph 1, on the ground that he has not sufficient evidence before him on which to come to a decision. “ 0. J. Pharazyn, chairman.” On the motion of the Chairman, seconded by Mr. Toomath, the report was adopted. Mr. Hutchison moved that a copy of the report be transmitted to the Wanganui Board. The motion was agreed to. SCHOOL DISTRICTS. Mr. Pharazyn brought up the following report : “ The committee appointed to define school districts have to report that they have found the definition of districts a matter of extreme difficulty and almost impossible to deal with in the short time at their disposal. Considering, however, the impoi'tance of taking immediate action in the matter, the committee made every effort to do it as satisfactorily as possible, as, should any errors have been unfortunately made, they can be rectified without much difficulty. The committee have been as far as possible guided by the suggestions received from the local committees, bearing in mind, however, the desirability of recognising as far as possible existing boundaries of districts defined for other purposes, and also of embracing the whole of the Wellington Education District within the boundaries of school districts. “ The committee recommend that the secretary he instructed to obtaiu the necessary assistance to put the proposed definition in proper form for publication, and to prepare a reference map in connection therewith. Also that copies of the definition be printed, and sent to all the school districts, and immediate steps taken for the election of committees. “ C. Pharazzn, chairman.” Mr. Hutchison moved that the report he adopted. The Rev. Mr. Paterson seconded the motion, which was agreed to. On the motion of Mr. Hutchison, seconded by Mr. Toomath, it was resolved that the first meeting of householders for the election of school committees in the various school districts be held on Monday, the 17th inst., at 7 p.m,, in the schoolrooms of the various districts.

It was also resolved, on the motion of Mr. C. Phabazyn, —That copies of the definition of districts, and a tracing of each, be forwarded to the various school committees. PUBLIC LIBRARIES ACT. Mr. Hutchison moved, —That the library grant of £370 18s. shall be apportioned in terms of the second section of the Public Libraries Act, 1877; and the secretary is instructed, in communicating with the library and institute committees throughout the district, to direct their attention to the provisions of the aforesaid Act. That in all cases where libraries exist, that committees shall furnish a return of local subscriptions actually received from Ist April, 1877, to 31st March, 1878, and to add to such return a memorandum as to whether or not a reading-room is attached to the library, and whether or not the readingroom is free.” Mr. Toomath seconded the motion, which was agreed to. SC TOOL COMMISSIONERS, A memorandum was received from Mr. Hislop, stating that the school commissioners have been recommended to hold their first meeting in the library of the late Provincial Government Buildings on Friday, the 7th June next, at 2 o'clock p.m. CHRONOLOGICAL CHART. The Secretary said he had been requested by the agent for the chart to bring it under the notice of the Board, with a view to its being its being used in the schools under the Board. The chart might be very useful in large schools, but he did not think it would be of much use in schools generally. There were in all thirty-eight schools, and no doubt a reduction would be made for taking a large number. No action was taken in the matter. SCHOOL OP DESIGN. The Secretary said he had been requested by Mr. John Knowles to mention that his sister-in-law had arrived in Wellington from Homo. This lady was a competent teacher of drawing in the school of design attached to the South Kensington Museum, and had with her copies of models, drawings, and other apparatus useful in establishing a school of design. She would be prepared to establish a school of design on her own responsibility, and all she asked was the use of a room—say in the Provincial Government Buildings, and the countenance of the Board. That was the only encouragement she requested. It was the general opinion that every facility should be given to the lady in question to establish a school of design. The Secretary said he would recommend the Board to countenance the thing. On the motion of Mr. 0. Pharazyn, Messrs. Lee and Toomath were appointed to make all necessary arrangements in the matter.

- £ s. d. Average for year, 3700, at £3 16s.. 13,875 0 0 Deduct for reserve routs 300 0 0 13,575 0 0 Inspector’s salary .. 450 0 0 Trevelling expenses 150 0 0 Scholarships 150 0 0 Share of capitation vote, 3700 at 11s. 3d. 2,085 11 6 Total payment for yea 16,410 11 0 Received to end of April 22,605 16 8 Received in excess . 6,195 5 2

J3 Is No. passed in each o <U *3 Hundred School. o ft s s I. n. in. IV. V. VI. Wainuiomata .. 30 30 8 6 3 1 _ Tau'icrcuikau.. 10 10 1 3 Tenui 21 20 2 2 4 8 Mauriceville .. 47 80 11 Opaki Waingaroa 27 28 27 21 4 3 5 5 2 6 6 “ n Gladstone 19 li) 2 5 3 S — T Total 182 159 31 22 21 17 i -