EDUCATIONAL.

Patea Mail, Volume V, Issue 431, 31 May 1879, Page 2

EDUCATIONAL.

(To the Editor of the Patea Mail.) Sir, —The Waverley and Whenuakura School Committees have done gone good service in bringing forward the faulty paits of the Education Act, with a view to amendment. Unless combined action is taken, the efforts of those Committees will be rendered migratory, and therefore I trust the remainder of the Committees in the County will co-operate and press the matter forward. As the law at present stands, if a member of the Board resigns (and at any rate at the annual election), each Committee must meet—first for the nomination, and again for the election. Now, there are 48 School Committees in this Educational District, of seven members each, so that 336 persons are taken away from their business on two. .separate occasions for each election. 1 consider this a culpable waste of time, more especially as it can be easily avoided. The Whenuakura Committee propose that each electoral district should return its member or members to the Board. The Waverley Committee suggest that Education Districts be divided into sub-districts or wards, each Sub-district to return its proportion of members. The latter plan is the best, as the present arrangement of electoral districts would not give us proper representation. For instance, the Wanganui electoral district extends to the old Province line, including Waitotars, Waverley, and Kohi Schools. These naturally belong to Patea ; they are

in that County,, and would be much mord likely to have their wants attended to by d Patea than by a Wanganui representative. In any case, a change would be for the better, as if a member got tired of his work on the Board, and resigned, which has occurred pretty frequently of late, only one sub-division would be put to the trouble of a fresh election. The settlers ou this coast have taken- a great interest in the working of the Act, and do their duty right well, but some are.beginning to complain of the trouble they are put to in consequence of so many elections. It must not, however, be supposed that I find fault with the treatment this end of the district has received at the hands of the Board, or of the Committees in the other Counties. On the contrary, we have had 'every justice and consideration shown ns* and I am bound to say. with regard to the Board, this has mainly been at the instance of Mi John Duthie, who, while in office* did all in his power to forward the just interests of this end of the district. It is the system I object to, and we may thank the integrity and sense of justice of the Committees as a whole that the ends of the district have not suffered ere this. Other matters require consideration —such as Bible reading in schools, mode of voting, &c., which, failing an abler pen, I may. comment on hereafter, if I have not disgusted von with the length of this epistle. --I am, &c., KOHL Waverley, 30th May, 1879.