EDUCATIONAL ENDOWMENTS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 186, 5 February 1912, Page 4

EDUCATIONAL ENDOWMENTS.

CANNOT BE UTILISED. ' By the University Endowment Act of 1808 certain lands, including 10,000 acres of confiscated land to be set apart in the province of Taranaki, were declared to be a reserve for the endowment of a colonial university to be thereafter established. The New Zealand University Act, 1874, provided that the proceeds derived from the land should be dealt with for promoting higher education in the province of Taranaki. The land was vested ill the Public Trustee in 1905 and in the Crown in 1910 as an endowment for providing scholarships to be called "Taranaki Scholarships." These were to be awarded annually on the results of the junior scholarship examination of the university. They were of an annual value of £6O and tenable for three years. Unfortunately, it so happens that, under the present condition of secondary education in TaVanaki, the stipulations of the endowment preclude the scholarships being availed of. With the object of having the terms of the endowment amended, a conference of Taranaki representatives was suggested. ' ' . •

The matter came before the Wanganui Education Board on Wednesday, the lo- ' cal Board being affected as far as the district from Manaia to Patea is concerned. The communication from the New Plymouth Committee had been referred to the. Chief Inspector for suggested amendments to the terms, and he reported as follows: • , "With respect to the Taranaki scholar- '

ships I have the.honor to make the following statement: The preliminary examination appears to be pitched in too high a key for so small an area of competition. As, the.scholarship ia.not a private foundation but a public endowment the basis of competition might very well be broader. It might very-easily'go to a certain number of Taranaki candidates taking the highest places at the Matriculation examination 1 of the Univer T sity of New Zealand, provided that they are prepared to comply with the conditions of tenure. The scholarships might possibly lead to a professor's chair, bu£ they might be less serviceable if they led to the making of intelligent citizens, especially citizens well versed in the industrial needs of the provincial district of Taranaki. The name might be amplified to read "Taranaki scholarships for the Promotion of Agricultural Studies and Research' and the successful achonwship candidates might be required to pu»sue their studies at one of the university colleges with a view to their taking the B.Ss. degree in Agriculture. Thus claims of scholarship and industrial problems in Taranaki would both be jsatisfied."

The following resolution, moved by Mr. Dixon and seconded by the chairman, was then carried: "That a conference of representatives of the Taranaki and Wangamii Education Boards meet the members of Parliament in the Taranaki district to discuss what action should Be taken in order that the Taranaki university scholarship should be arranged on a m»re liberal basis."—Wanganui Herald.