FEEBLE-MINDED CHILDREN.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 October 1916, Page 6

FEEBLE-MINDED CHILDREN.

V t 1 [S THE STATE DOING ITS DUTY? a (From Our Own Correspondent.) p Wellington, October 3. li The new school for feeble-minded girls, s situated at Richmond, near Nelson, is low approaching completion. The parents of girls who are to be admitted to the institution have been instructed to prepare, the children for transfer to the ?nntrol of the Education Department, md probably the first batch of thirty L'irls will be admitted within the next 'ortnight. The school provides accommodation for about 65 girls in all, and 'II the inmates have already been sexrtcd from among the children whose „ r:-'ui;'s have been recorded on the books j, the Department. A selection has had j to be made, and the officers of the De- 5 partment have been guided as far as j wssible by the possibilities of improvement in individual cases. It is important u that the institution should receive the 0 [•hildren who have the best chance of j. profiting by the special instruction that a ivill be given. , New Zealand cannot be said to have -j lone its duty by its feeble-minded chil- j, iren. The provision made for them by B the State has been recognised for many £ years to be inadequate. In fact, many a at the children have received no expert 1. treatment at all. They have been in- f capable of oenefitting by the instruction r jiven in the ordinary schools, and they D liave advanced in years without receiving any special attention, until they have passed the period when assistance t! could be given them with any certainty j of benefit. The school for feeble-minded t boys at Otekaike, in North Otago, represented the first attempt of the New 1 Zealand Government to deal with the problem that has received a great deal of attention in some other countries. s , Iliat school now contains more than . sixty boys, but it has not yet - been ■, fully organised and the construction of , the ■additional buildings required to pro- , vide for an increased number of pupils and to permit of proper classification, has proceeded very slowly. J The Richmond school, like the Otekaike school, is intended to deal only with children who are capable of being trained and educated in some legree. Young people who are more severely afflicted are handled by the Mental Hospitals Department. The institution is modern in design and pleasantly situated In a block of land that may be used in connection with the education of the girls who are to be received there. But I the Education Department has encoun- n tered difficulties in the provision of an r, expert staff. Men and ivomen eompe- v tent to undertake work of the kind re- t quired are few in number, and the de- t mand for them is great in the older e countries. This matter has received the 1 attention of the Minister for Education (Hon. J. A. Hanan) during the last year, and there Is no intention that either Richmond or Otekaike shall become a mere place of detention. The work of the Otekaike school has already proved its value, in spite of adverse conditions, The boys are taught handiwork of various kinds, the guiding Idea being the development of habits of useful Industry, and thus the gradual strengthening of dull minds. The inmates are taught basket-making, woodcarving, mat-making, etc., and they do a considerable amount of gardening and farm-work, The course of instruction at Richmond will be varied to suit the ' needs of the girls, who will be. of various ' ages, The Education Department lias ' been compiling a list of feeble-minded [ girls for some time past and the number : of these afflicted young people is larger than is generally imagined.