EDUCATION BOARD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIII, Issue 130, 27 June 1901, Page 2

EDUCATION BOARD.

Tie Taranaki Education Board met on Wednesday. Present: Mr, McAllum (Chairman), Miss Heywood, and Messrs Adlam, Wade Allsworth, MacKay, Kennedy, Faul l , and Hignett. The Architect reported that he had t onsidered Dr. Val ; ntir e's report on tbo Lepprton School, and that he agreed with the suggested removal of tho tanks from the roof to a more suitable place. He recommended tbat new a; ks be outlined, and connee'ed with the basins. With,regard to repairs, *hd tho provision, of 300 cubic feet per pupil, he s-id some small repairs wore nece'fary, but as to providing 300 cubic feet of space per pnpi', this would involve enlarging al the s;hoo's 'o near'y double their size at a cost 1 f ibout £IO,OOO. Toe London School Boxrd regulations r quired 130 cubic feet only, and if that wete fmfficietit in stuh an atmosphere as London it should bo amply suifie'ent here, The Loppa;tnn S hool and all the other schools me 1 ; the requirements of th»' Lord nBo rd exactly. With r*gvd to making better provision for surfacs. and storm w<ter, that c uld ba accoiriV plished by asphal'ing a narrow track with a f. 11 away from tho builJiig. A little shingle to fill up low places wou'd pr. vent storm water acciimu'ftt? ing. Pending thn report i.f the public analyst, t l e well water should not be used for drinking purposs. He sugge'ted ireans for preventirg foulnci's in the piiviov. lie. further repor ed that'the contiact for the Pohokura Schcol had been s'gnd; also ess"on as the teicher at Ngnire had obtains I a rang.\ the school and residence would be repaired. He could find rotlina in the chimney likely to catch fire, ex cept soot, Mr. Kennedy pointed out there was a very fr.at differenci between !)r •Valiutine's figures aud tho e of the Londi n Sjho.'l Bard. The (Chairman eaid that he urdcrstood the Health Act stipuUt d for 150 cubic feet. Mr. Fiull gave it as his experience that tanks were allowei to bscome foul. He ronsid red there ehea'd be a p'na at the bottom of tho tanks to facil tite cleaning out. The Architect s*id this was now don<-, but he thought it advis b'e that filters should b) attach d to eich tank. The Chairman suggested posttooi g 1 he matter till the saraplo of w«iter had been analysed. Mr. Hignett; Move', That th . architect be authorised 1o ■ themiior repiirs mentioned in tis rep e t. aa( \ that of the medical officer aio-g st,in« 300 feet of cubic sir for each chi'd should be sat to tho D prtment. Ho considered that if the air space m ntioned by Dr. Valiotice was r. quired the funds fcr the pu-p-se si oull be supplied by the Department. The mo'ion was ca'rieJ. The Ratapiko Commiit-e- fotwa <l, J a lequast fo- a r..nge in pi ice of thu eld iven in the teacher's rflsidenc». A subsidy not excee-ling £3 w-u gra't.ted. Miss Cooper, Pohokuia, applied for leave of abset.ee, on 0.-coiuit of illhealth.—Granted,

The Inspector recemmendel Miss Ela Coutts, (Tariki), for free tuition at the Distiict High School.—Agreed 10. The Inspector recommended that blitds ba provided for the Tarata aad and Uruti schools.

Mr Mackay askjd if-the Bad had made up its mind wbatourse to psrsuo generally with regard to providing binds, or frosting. He cons dored the , Bard should lay down a d. fijiti p'ao i for all the s';ho:>h a's to «he'her blinls or fronting sliou'd be ad 'pted, m whit would keep the sun on" of osjo sshool should be effic,ici"us in otbe-s. Mr Hignett tteted that fn sting would not always a?omplish the pu:pose, as it had been found necessary to hive bliuda a 1; Waitara and els .wheio. Mr Faull drew attention to the necessity of renewing Muds whan pu, put up, a*A he coi s'dercd t'* at if the Board ptovidrd blind', Oomujit ees should repkee them when wornoo f .. He was quie prepared to'vo'e for blinds cr frostiog, but a broid princip'e should be laid down. • Mr Mackay moved that b.fore any expense was incurred in providing blinds for school-*, the question be referred to M' r sirs McAllum, Hignett and A'l<worth to report upon. Mr. A'lsworth siid he sbauld likd it to be unders ood th it the committee should have full power to go into evei y aspect of the question, Fronting and blinds both go*, out of crder, and it was a question whether speeia'ly prepvred alias should not bs used. Ha pointed out, however, that frequently the tnfure suffered by teachers ancj children from a glare of light was caused by placing the school in a wrong position. This view had been taken by Mr. Hill, an inspector, who advoca'ed window?. The motion was carrier!, it being understood that the committee were to report on the whole quest ; on. The Tong'sporu'u Committee forwarding a list of 19 children waiting t.i atto. d -f the school is re-opened. Th'i m.:!tr of te- pening tha sc'ool ws re'ened to Mess*s Faull and Hignet- *o report upon. Thu Oenata Committee wrote requesting a subsidy towards cost of er ctinj a shelter shed. A subsidy up to ,£ll wns em ted. The Seciet ry of the Education De-.psiv-ment wrole enclcs'ng letters o i 'he subject of the fencing ci the Wh'ingairiomona sctpol roserve, aDd pointing out that a gjwnt of was made to -the Boxrd in S"p'ember, 1898, for f»n ing this and two other schools, th r.'fco the" Minister has.no doubt tKe : aeßistanci asked for by the Commit'ee would b rendered. , It was decided that a:, reply be sent tithe.Departmentstitingthat on 20th June, 1898, the Board forwarded a requisition for £1540 for schools in ne ly settled districts, and received a grant of .£529 only. That £52 Is 6d hal 1 esn spirit on the Whangamomona ground--, ind for fencing and that, wire and staples, costing £t& 4s 6d, had alFo Been supplied to the Committre on the understanding that thn Committee found posts a- d erected the fence. The following report from the Fiuance Committee was read re urgent works : Your beg to .report that ithey have very carefully gone through the varicus it-ras in the accompanying return, and that they are of op'ninn that t>ti] amount £15129 might be reduc d by a sum of .£2628, having a total of £12501, which your committee consider n n ces--ary to place the work of the dis'ricfe on a satisfactory footing with regard to (a) new schools (b) removal and extension of existing buildings, (c) new residences, (d) shelter shed", (e) painting end repairs, etc. Your .committee would recommend that the Chairman of the Board bB authorised to proceed to Wellin>.to]n ti lay the whr-le matter before the Education Department, with the object cf obtaining an additional grant ot>, £ .larger proportion of the annual building grant to meet the ..pressing needs of the Board. . Shelttr-shedc—Although this question was not referred to the Finance Committee, wa beg to recommend, wi h a. view to placing the matter on a more sitisfuctory footiug, that the following schedule ba adopted : Attendance. Total cost of Board's shed. subsidy. £ £ s d 20 15 7 10 0 S3 -20 10 0 0 30 25 12 K) o 100 40 20 0 0 Over 100, to be dealt with on their merits as such cases aris«, but in no case to exceed £SO. TECHNICAL SCHOOL". With ref-r-finca to tl o following resolution passed by the Bon-ugh Council, "That the Council will consent to section 1014 (having a frontfige of 114 ft eb to Liar-det-street, and about 83 feet to Pendarves-street) being g : ven as a site for a technical school in exchange free of Yogh to the Council for part of Bewrve E to be! used for baths and recreation," your Corcmit'ee beg t) poitt out tint at the interview wh eh took pVe betwe n the members of the Education Board, High School Boa d of Give nor-', and' the Ke eves Committi e of th« Borough Council, it w-s distinctly understood that the Keserv-s Committee would make a recommendation to the Conn'il fo place two sections 1014 «nd 1015—at !he disposal of <he Board in exchange for Beserve E, f-r the purpose of a matual and technicl school, Your Committee regret to find that the Borough Council do' s not apprentlv show sufficient appreciation of the im,.o of fstablishing a manual and technical school in New Piymontn. Wo are of op ; nion that nothing Ws than tbe two sections sg>eed upon, by the various deputations will le sufficient to tfjjniently cprrv out the proposa 1 , and ualoss the Borough Cruii'-ii should showadisposi tion to re-rp-iFider tha qucs'ion a Lttle moie favour.ibly, we would roomraen ! ■hat the que-t'r>n of < stihlisbine a manual and t clinic il school in New Plymouth be held in abeyance, and that the of a 'c'ool in Stratford for m mual and technical instruc'ion be prccseded with as soon aa po sible. The Inspector subauitte'l the following re'omin-ndations with l'fgard to technical s-hocl'. in the diniric^:— In New Plymouth and Stratford, the two largest centres of popuhtion, technical achoo's could with advan'aae be ts'a' lish'/il. This dt-es not imply th.it small centres would receive no di rect benefit, as these would be worked I from the larger centres. As tt'cbircol woik where undertaken should have a direct bearing on thn industries t.nd needs of the in tha neighbourhood cf the school, it would bo judicious to cliff rentiite the lines upon which the two scboo's shou'd be carried on, As Stratford is more or lots the c. litre of a dairyiug district, in*tructioiii in dairying should bs provided for, in other words a dairy school should be ► s'ablished. Here instruction would bo given to pupi's and to teachbis who could then teach the prirciples of dairying as a school subject, This would 'bring howe to the. suppliers a better knowledge of the! principles which govern the success ofj a moat important industry, and one of

vital impor'ance to this district. Attached to the school should he a laboratory a drawing room, and a room for manual instruction. The laboratory would be Hvailable for school clisses, for t'"e dairying chisse', for teachers' Saturday cl sses, and for continuation chss s. The dairy school might be us d als ■ '• y the Agricultural Departrniutf r G asses such ;>.& they not in-fr-equentlv hohl in different parlsof tlw col.-ny. Tni < sc v ome would, I baliave. provid.j a compa't workable institution, wlvch would have co ridfrable practical u'ili'y and it coii'd be extended as occasion prises. The cost of the building and appliances would be provided by thi Educit'on Department and at p-es u,t I am in communication with different bodies interested in the district, andthe-e will I have reason to believe give the Board their assistance and support. 1 recommend that the on c'.ion of the building be proceeded with as soon as p sible, and that it be placed in the Stratford school grounds o \ a s'te whbh the Techn : cal Inspector and I think very suitable. In New Plymou f h, manuil work and applied driwiog sh-uld be prominent featu es in the course of uork undertaken.. In addi ion to this there should d>3 a Kb ratory i a<id as the demand for special ilas=es aiis s the cou'd ba provid' d for. Mi raover tha inatt uctors in New Plymouth could take classes at S ratford, and thosa a*; Stra'forl tako cl.ss s in N w Prymouth ; for the two schods should ba dissociated only ns regards locality and should be int»grol p.rts o r a g n-ral scheme. It would bs nn advintase if the Musoum could ba near the Technical School, or better still could form pari of it. As at Str;, tiO:d the rooms coul I be used for schcol classes. Teichei'h' Sa'urday c'asse?, and eonn'nui'ioii clasiep, and the later would I believe meatni'.h heirly support in tho town. The Eluc.tion Depart in nt wou'd provido the coat of the: building and the appliances. ARthe establishment he r e presents difficul ies thut do not exist in thecise of the S-iatford Technical School I recommend that the building be cot proceeded with until the way is clearer. Mr. Mackay moved, That ttjeieport be adopt d and thanked for.its labours. Mr. Wade seconded the motion, and strongly ndvocated the establishment of the p-oposed techuicil sth 01, pointing out the necessi'y for such a fchool in conuectibt. with the dairy industry. He th it there should be no delay in starting the school M'-. Faull paid he hid interviewed the Mayor (Mr. Dookril) after the last mee'in? anitcld him that the Borongh Cjuccil were standing in their own lighkby not facilitating the erection of a technical schcol in New Plymouth, The Council was under the misippre hension that tho Eduction reserves belonged to the Biard who ben filed by the revenu.s, but he hvd poin'ei out ihiti.he amount of this r. vvnue was deluceil from the gant for primary education. Mr. Higceit greatly regretted the "dog in the monger" er 'skinflint'' policy ado r tod by the Borough Council, who h id failed altogether to appreciate the ben-fite to be derived from such an institution. The Board had fiom the outso I ', dealt with the quesion with a des : ro *o est'.blish a lechniciil school in i New Plymouth, but the Borough Council .would have none of it. He considered the public should thoroughly understand the Council was alone the s'umbling block, in the way of having the school here. Mr Allsworth said that if it was the wish of the Bar 1 fur the Committee to examine imo the possibility of finding other sit s in New Plymouth, hi was wi lin». He did not think it was al ogellr r right that the distric should suffer from the apithy of the Council, and he was ave-s* to creating locil pri-judic.es. Itehu'd bo clea'lv understood that the daiiy tcl o 1 should be for the ben; fr, of the whole district. A dairy school at Stratford would meet the special requirements of that p'irt of the di trict, but it was open to the Board to s f art branch technical schools in o'her parts of the dist: ict where other ements cou'd be met. He suggc sted tha 1 . t;-.e qu- stion be not closed, but that the '< ommitteirake fun her inquiries as to a site for a techn'cil scho 1 at New Piymouth. Mr M okay amendi d his motion in that direction. The Onairman suggestfd that it would be advisable for another memb r toaccompiny bim to W<lliigon, and it was decided to sdd Mr Allswortb's name to the lecommendation iu the report. Mr. Mack'iy siid he was inclined to take the weaker side, and pr f.rrcd to think that the Borough Council erred more from ignorance than judgment. Fie was inclined to think that if tho .Council was approached by tha Chiir man and Mr. Alls«'o'th a*id the facts relative to the revenue from the re sarves laid before that body it would s e the raa'ter in another light. He advocated that technical'schoo's should : he sta'tel himultanepusly both at New Plymouth end Stratford. Htr was persuaded that the Borough C- uofi 1 wou'd, on further informat'ou be : ng placed before it, be willing to reconsider its decision. The motion was then carried, A'counis were pa sed. Mr. Maikay, pursuant to notice, moved to rescind tho ns lution pa's d relntivo to the appl ca'ion for removal of the T. ko School. He said his obje.t was to re-open the ques'ion. Mr, Hignett seconded tho mution. H« ws not prcpiied to sny whether he would vote for tho renoval of tb> sell 01, l.ut ho though*: the mitter ought ! o bo fur-hsr discusred. Mr. Allsworth said that tha Chairnan had honed all ducuss : on at the privious mee'ing, and therefore thote was no evidence 009 way or tho o'her btford tho Board. He suggis'ei thit evi should be taken on the spot, «r.d ho moved that a committ e be appoints! to visit the di.-tiict in quesWo 1 and investigate the whole matter. By' taking this coursa the subject wou'd be greatly simplified. Mr. Mackay considered that the resolution passed must hi rescinded before fuithor cction was t-iken. M". Faull would subpo:t Mr. Allsworth's motion, eo tint the matter could bo fully inquired into, but the Bor.rd must fully bear in mind that it had no money for 'he c st of removal. Speaking to the point of order raised by Mr. Ma.'kay, Mr. Allsworth pointed out that, hismo'ion whs praoiicdly that a pe'itioo before tho Board should b* re 1 erred to a committee to enquire into. ino Uiairmui p m'ed out that if the motion to rescind was car.ied, Mr. Allsworth's amendmoik cc u ld b' moved, but hs rulod that tho amendon- nt was r.ot in order. Mr. Kennedy coubidored that it would only be a matter of courtesy to tho Toko Committee to rescind thoj resolution, as the members elected

were especially pledged ts th 9 rrmova of the schotil.

Mr. Alls worth pointed out that the Oba'rman was allowing Mr. Kennedy to take the very cours3 which ho-re-fused to p'-rmit at the las'; meeting.

An informal discuesion ensued. Mr. Adlcm ag;eed with M'. Alhworth. Mr. A'lswortii asked the Cha ; rman fo.the grounds of his ruling. Ho wished to know in what way his motion was out of order.

The Chairman : Your motion cm be brought forward after the motion is .rescinded.

Mr. Hignett read the Board'* re>uhtion by which the Chairman's ruling must be accepted without discussion.

Mr. Alhworth contended that he had a right to know the Chairman's reasons.

The Chairman:, It seems we t>re fighting over a straw. Mr. Allsworth: Then you decline to hta'e your refISQDS. (The Chairman did not reply.) The mot'on to rescind was put and carried by 6 to 3—Messrs. Wade, Al!swortb, and Pau'l voting with the coe?. A deputiiion from the Town Sihtol Committee, consisting of Messrs. W. A Collis (chairman) and Percy Whi'e, waited on the Board and submitted fstirnates of the Committee's finances [as already published in the News] Mr. Hignett ,( ftsked if the amount (£l7 10s) pud to the clerk aud treasurer was a fair and rVa/onab'e'ODe. Mr. Collis eaid it was. The tenders re:eivtd from other npplicants were above this, aud one asked for 30s a we k.

In answer to questions Mr. Ool'i stated the part'culais of the work of cleaning. Mr. McAUum sad the Board paid .£ls a year for the committea in water rates.

Mr. Collis said that was 8% and he believed the Council would not roakthis charge if the water was chargeable to the general rates. Continuing, h-< said 1 that if tbe Committee were able to concentrate the schools into one-the. expenditure could be reduced. Mr Mackay thought if tbe whole work of the three school-! were adve'lised as ooe it could be done for much les-t.

Mr Hignett considered the wok was done at a very reasonable rate.

L The Ohairman concurred. Heeaidth" I trouble was, how was the Board to give i the Committee more money. , Mr White add he could not'sjppleI mfnt what, Mr Oullis I ad. siid; that he had found it impossible to get a b»y to d i woilcfor a few ho ira a day at less thin five shillings* week; and to get one to work properly, he would require a large wage, so thattho amiui.t paid for the cloning of the schools wab very reifonable by comparison,

Mr Faull askfd if tho OouimiHe raised any money by concerts and sub sjtiptionß. Mr. Collis stid the Commit'ee had raised a considerable Eum of mnue v during the past year or two; but i" was felt that in the fa< e of tbe fact that, thtro were bo matiy calls upon the public in New Plymouth, it would l;e useless to make extra demand upon the p?ople, He would point out that tbe Uonvuittie weroiob begging. . 'I simply showed that the capi'atioD was insufficient to meet the tequiremen s, and wisfced to know how tbe m icey Wi-sto be supplied. Mr. Allsworth sympathised with_Mr Oollio' remarks,. and be maved, Th it the rfque=t be refered to.tl e FinaidCommittal of tbe Board. lu doing so he thought tk* rei]Ufs r . cime at »u inopportuno time, as a commissi m wa« now si'ting on the .*ubj ti of teach u ri.' salaries, etc., and its > osomrceod >tiooß might have th? effect of upset,ing present con li* ions." Et*) though*, th Town Coin mitten bhoulJ m ke j/reti'r efforts to can y out th»ir w rk. I" the coun'ry the Coin<rii - t>es w- r< ro tin allycalled up ntoprovid-ifundsforva ious objects, and bad to c II upun ihparents. The Town Committee, however, decided to look up n the Board a* a milch cow, and :o consider that who; any hiog w. s requir.d thoy s ; mply Iml to go to the Boa.il aud di'iin it. lie agreed with Mr. Collis that tbey nennot begging; they were demanding money. Mr. A'lsworth pointed cut tlat the Wanganui Bard paid rn'y 3s 9d cnpttitioD, as against 4s 6d pi by the Taranaki Boaid, This.BoaM. only g>ve the additional cip ; ti iou »t the expense of tie 'eaoh.rs' silsrios. In Wai.ganui tho Commit,ees were always complaining at tho 1 .ck of funds, but they managed to get r.lonp s mahow by mak ; ng calls upon the parents. If the pireuts had the welfare <f their children at hi tar', th-y woild no doubt makenn-effort toassist the Committee. The Board could o lj suppjy rooie money by reJuci'-g the telphers' s-alarias, as that wag.tbe only fund the Boaid couli toucli, a d th<s would acceutu.te the oi'd-s'aiidin* <ry against this 80-ud that it paid i s teachers s > po^r'y. M<\ Wade seconded and the moioi. was carried.

Miss Bes ie Johnston w.s arpjintu' sewing teacher at Tarata. Mi'. Mackay inovol, and Mr... K r n reiy seconded, That a oraniir.-er co.i eisting of Miss Haywood, Messrs Ad'am acd Hignett, be appointed to visit Tok •, co fer with the corum ttre and householders there on the que;fo.i of moving the reboot, and ropoit to 'he Board.—Carried.

The Irspeitor r'[orted on the plan* ,of aohool grounds imde by s ho' 'children. Ft a the purpose of • oinpetitiou the schools w, ro divided int i three clafso.-.: (1) Tho e with averages of under 50;-(2) 50 and under 100; (3) over 100.

Class I.—Juhu P.ttersin, Kaianai, 1; Harry Bowii, Lepreiton, 2 The l'onn< r ■ en', in a, t very fine plao n< atb ex cnted and accu.ate in d tyiil.'■ Th lutter showed a very ma;ked prom's ■ as a draughtsman, and in nddition to the wo k spec'fitd, seut in a wellcxe u ed plan and ol'vation of thfc -chaol. William Ho«ell, Rhou. 3 ; Ka'.o F. rnnao, Tiko"nnf;i, 4; ENi Andrews, Huiian i, 5. Higli'y comjnended: James Pat'e.so'i and Jarit Bennett, Kaiauai; commend, d: Pi-rcy Howe, Urenui; John Todd, Dudley [load ; Ivy Richards, Tikorangi; Simoos, Sali-bury Roa 1; John Kvet'-' Veronica Suodroski. Mai el Girison Oiivo Hisliop, Hugh Patetvioti, IH'al Gibson,'lvy Goppeith, Emi'y Bonn it, I Norman Sutherland ami liis Pv.tr-, j all of Katuuai.

Glass ll.—Jimr-a Matk.y, Toko, 1 ; John Sk.e 1 , Fitz;oy, Stella Hickty Opunake, and William Sbphecs, Norfolk roiid, iqual, 2. Commanded: Wilfrid Mar.-lialf, Norfolk road; Clin'uu Joces, Fi'z'oy; V:nceut 'Wvbt, Tok.). <lamo3 MV.ckay's work was very c:edif.ible, and was marked by grelt cu-e. Tho Njifolk road school giound, owinf; to its s : zb and i s ' iive s-citd by a trek, was vo-y ditlieult, for pupils to draw nccm-atoly, and the plars bote evidence that considerable paius had betm taken to ensuro accuraoy. j- Ola's lll'.—Tho plans s:nt in frocu | this class of school are so inferior-to the others in quality, and so paor, that the

In>pooti>rre.oaamende i tha* no prizjnbe a war <i-d, and that tin £1 10s iloceted ho die rtbuted among the pupil* ia. Class s I. and 11. ' ;* The retuU of the competition/as a whole, was, the Inspector considered, a great disappointment, e*pec : ally in the Light st clues In the two other classes a few p'ans coul 1 be selec'ed at once as being of cons derablo merit, but many showed that pupils could not u-e even rulers and set squares propaily. Ex- , cellent work all round was not expected, , but the avenge should have been much better than it wa*. The Kaiauii scbrol work as a whole , deserved special commendat ion. Though the average attendance is uoder 60, thirteen pl,ns wee sent in aid the avengd quality was high. Had not , the conditions of the competition debarred mote than one pupil at any one receiving a pri«>, other prases would bave been recommended to the pupils of this school. After tome dfrcus'ion by the Board, theJollowißg re«lutiin wis carried,on • the motion of Mr. Wade, seconded by Mr. Adlam, that the Icsp3Ctor's report on plans of tcbo I grounds Be received, iini thxt his resomm"ißdationi re prises be given effect to with the exception of taking 30* from Chss 111 te be divided bstwejn Clasps I *nd II; and that no prize be awarded in Oiasi 111 on ac- . ouut of the poor qua'ity of the work. ■After cor skleration of some farther routi ebusiness tie Board adjourned.