RURAL SCHOOLS MAY DEFEAT “SUMMER TIME”

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 179, 19 October 1927, Page 13

RURAL SCHOOLS MAY DEFEAT “SUMMER TIME”

FARM CHILDREN CONSIDERED

COMMITTEES TO DECIDE Schools may get over the provisions of the Summer Time Bill by opening an hour later next month. The starting hour of school in the summer months was left to the discretion of each individual committee by the Auckland Education Board to-day, provided that the time was not more than one hour different from the old time. Matamata Junior High School and Hukerenui School Committee applied for permission to start at 9.30 a.m. when the Daylight Saving Act came into force. The chairman. Air. A. Burns: That’s half an hour later. Air. E. C. Banks: No: half an hour earlier. The bus drivers are all protesting, because they want new time. “This is going to give us a lot of trouble,” said the chairman. “Some will want one time and some the other.” A letter from Putaruru farmers asked that the school should “stick to the old time.” FARMERS’ OPINION A deputation from the Auckland Farmers’ Union, consisting of Messrs. A. A. Ross, president, and R. H. Feist, asked that schools should start at the old time. Air. Feist said that the legislation would be of special disadvantage to those farmers, whose wives and children were compelled by economic circumstances to go into the cowsheds. Tt was essential that some concession should be made to them.

The chairman: How will they come in on the trains which will run on standard time? Air. Feist: We have not gone into the practical vside. “We have got to meet the requirements of all districts,” said Air. Burns. “No doubt there will be a diversity of opinion. In one district the conveyors want the new time. The question of getting the children to school is a big one.” Air. Feist: The teaching staffs will want it also, but are you going to consider the children’s point of view? CHILDREN IN COWSHEDS Air. R. P. ATcPhail: Should we not prevent them going into the cowsheds then ? Air. Feist: We would Welcome any sound suggestion. The chairman said that the Bill, was for one season only and the majority of people wanted to give it a fair trial. Mr. H. S. W. King considered that the children would have to get up an hour earlier, and that they would not get to bed until the old time. Air. Feist, replying to questions, said that more children were in the cowsheds before 5.30 a.m. than after 6 a.m. under present conditions. “It’s the law of the land, and it will have to be given a fair trial or we will get chaos,” said Mr. F. A. Snell. Mr. Feist declared that although the farmer would be compelled to rise an hour earlier under the Act, he would not get through his work any sooner. Air. Snell: Method might do some good to the farmer. Air. E. C. Banks: You can always get advice from the town. “We are not pressing for a small section,” said Air. Feist. “This feeling is* very general and we look to the education board to alleviate the difficulty. THE SIDEY MEMORIAL The Chairman: You are not subscribing to the Sidey memorial? Air. Banks outlined the dairyfarmers’ day, from 4 a.m. till 7 p.m. The busiest time was from daylight until 9 a.m. Milking would not be begun any earlier in the afternoon because heat and flies before 4 p.m. prevented the farmer from getting the maximum yield from his cows. The chairman: No doubt teachers will protest. Air. Banks: Yes, Matamata teachers will want to start tennis at 2.30 instead of 3.30. It was decided, on the motion of Air. Banks that all school committees should have permission to fix the time of starting in the summer months.