SCHOOL BUILDING GRANTS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 323, 24 February 1910, Page 4

SCHOOL BUILDING GRANTS.

THE MINISTER'S EXPLANATION. By Telegraph— Press Association. Wellington, Last^Jfight. A deputation trom the Wellington Education Hoard waited ou the Miuister for Education (Hon. G.fF&wlds) to-day to complain of the redaction in the grant made by the Department to the Board in its 'appropriation of the public , funds for education dwririg the current year.

Mr. R. Lee, chairman of tha,,, Board,, was the principal spokesman. r Mr. L-:e 'said the deputation came to disjSuse a very important- question. Th<£. Board's grant had been reduced by £SQBO, In. this connection the Ikiard'JjfldjgQpd reason to believe thatitsj-grarrc'-for loOfi would be. the same The grant in 1908 amounted,to and in the latter year to ] n the past the grant had on the value of the school The value of the school had been increasing from year f'd■ jfy, and it would be interesting' 'towhy with the increase in the buddings there had been a reduction in the grant. :>. ' * The Minister, in rej>ly„ said it appeared to him there had!been a good deal' of misundcrstanading which it would be well to remove. It had Jam* stated that the maintenance vol,c been reduoed. This was not ao\ The had as many schools as any board in New ZealaniL He -n----stanced the case of the natjve j&hOMS. Ttßse were in isolated disMwt&and he would say that the aveefige ag? of tlie native schools was fearer thosf under the control board Jin the North IsTand. and . Boards had been ailo'egied* more than 50 peV cent. abovQ 'thf/jjfteunt required for the maintenance under the control of Tie repeated that the Govcrfllewt hai made no reduction-- in-theniaintenance vote. Very few oi the? boards had event much more the mon»y that had been paid to them for iobuildmg. The average for the wnale Dominion was only 59.3 per cent. He did not blind himself to the fact that the Wellington Board had more nearly expended its maintenance vote than any other board in the Dominion. So far as the vote for education was concerned, the Department was not responsible for it. It was for the Government as a whole. Tie natural increase for si»t« vote this year was £103,000, and with a stationary revenue it was clear the position had to he considered. The fact that only 59 per cent, of the re-building vote had been spent throughout' vhe country, surely showed that no great >iarm w'o?flcl coffie by reducing the vote for this year.. Tn one case a sum had been voted for the re-building of schools destroyed by fire, and if this were ▼holly spent there might be a surpbu for distribution, and it was possible that the Department might he able to do ft little more to bring the maintenance vote up to the standard laid down in 1903. The re-building vote could not. be increased. Next year he hoped revenue would be up to its natural level. He could not pay out mo nor that had not been voted bv Parliament.