HIGH SCHOOL RE-BUILDING.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 December 1916, Page 5

HIGH SCHOOL RE-BUILDING.

'DEPARTMENTS attitude. At the prize-giving ceremony at tls New Plymouth High School the chairman made some trenchant rad- , marks upon the ■ attitude of the Educ&» ' tion Department regarding the re-ere«< : ' tion of the Boys' High School, recently destroyed by ire. If the higll ssholactioi record was to be maintained, it vu! necessary that there should be properly; , equipped buildings. He then detailed! the steps that had 'been taken to m«'. (build the school by the Boalrd, who were! not in ft position to finance the worfe r without the aid of the Government.; Plans, prepared by Mr. Gumming, an! Auckland architect, were submitted,, ioi accommodate' from 250 to 300, whieh,' having regard to the growth of tho; school, he did not, think too optimistic.;' l Whilst no information had yet been re- : eeived from the Minister of from information received lie understood)! that the Education Department wa»! making a big effort to clip the wingsj of the school, considering that a. school to accommodate was quite Biifikienty whereas that number was very liiUi. above th<! number at present attending l s the secondary department. .Further, tW

Education Department wanted to limit . them to a suin of money that -moult) v not enable the building' to be erefctfed . e : ther in brick or concrete, and WU quite inadequatet even for the Testri<sed number they considered proper, If tb( Minister supported this view, the Board K would -be illaced in n difficult position. They had no desire to x be considered am," putting forth extra plans for, expendi- * ture at these times, but, on the otUv j hand, they had every reason to provida i ' Secondary education in Taran&ki. "Mm was thy only secondary institution Taranaki, and the lioard must-see thai i it was properly equipped for those Mi quiring secondary educ: iion.> At„ WM ' . time of day it was not 'necessary" tft I argue that the .school was required, hof to argue that country people to "five their children, secondary eduauj tion. The great growth of the sohooll - v.ns proof of its absolute necessity. Hi it was a ease of enlargement, he not urge their claims until aftpr tlrtj war, -but the new building wqk atwo<i lutely necessary. It would he monßtsam! if secondary education in TaranakJ \ eonld be set back by officers of a de« partment who apparently were noil • properly acquainted needs <4 Taranaki. The officials appeared consider t(jat the boarding school w«4 T. a nuisance, because, ic£ount of th(J boarders, more class-rooms were •

quired, but lie emphasised the fact th&f the country people were just as entitled] to secondary education as were thfl and this tljey could not] get if boarding facilities werlb not pDW J v vided. The officials apparently came BJj ; iby train, and saw the towns of Patefy liawera, and Stratford, "Where theoj j were schools with secondary# dep&rtn ments, but presumably they, did ntftl; •A! know of the wide area from Mokau attl) . tlie Ohura to Opunake, from which dit< ' trict the pupils at the boarding attofß were drawn. This matter was of vliaV importance, and he hop'ed that hi» xeJ . marks, though perhaps not in keeping 1 with a prize-giving ceremony, wouM cause a little interest in 'New IFlymouw and Taranaki generaJly. , Mr. H. J. Okey, M.l'., referring to ttwj new school, stated that after getting siktanco from the Government, for - boarding school for the boys "and fl) school i'or the girls, he thought he : m| entitled to a spell from worrying tlljj -r Covennuent for further money for tb< High School, but he intended doing bit best. He had been charged in molt with being unpatriotic in preMtnri for money for the ,High School in ) ■ times, but he had pointed opt that I) promise had been made before the . and he had seen that it was kept