THROUGH THE OHURA.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 March 1917, Page 6

THROUGH THE OHURA.

I VISIT OF EDUCATION* BOARD. Before leaving Ohura on Wednesday morning a visit was paid to the Oluva school. The school, which comprise!? , two room.?, Is in good order. Mrs. Askew and Miss Willis are the teachers. Mr. Hope waited on the Board and pointed out the need for concreting the sheltershed. The Board agreed to pay a subsidy for this purpose and to supply hedge plants. A feature of the school is the separate children's plots and some fine willow trees which will provide splendid shade in a year or two. NIHOMHO. Nihoniho was the next place visited. It is about 7'/ s miles distant, situated on the road leading to Otangiwai, which leaves the main road about three, miles from Olmra. The road is good, there being some fine stretches of burnt papa. Considerable dairying ia done in the district. The school, which is in charge of Miss Olson, is under the control of the Matiere committee. It is a small, neatly-kept building, attended by about twenty children, with a. pretty flower garden. No one was present with any requests to make, but it was suggested that a separate district should be formed, and, as this was later asked by the Matiere committee, it will be given effect to. A splendid run of about 8% miles past a heavily-timbered valley, in which there is a sawmill, and through some undulating country, brought the party into the Mangapapa valley, a closely-settled district, a feature of which was the heav-ily-laden apple trees in the oreli vds at-, . taehed to each residence. MANAWAPOURI. The Manawapouri school, wh'., : h has been closed, was passed, and the Otaiiga- ' war school, some four miles further on. was reached. This school has an area i of 13 acres, a good proportion of which j is level, yet the school is built right tn i one corner, the/ shelter shed even m- ' croaehing on the neighboring property, i This school had a roll number of 08, i but the average now is 30. Mrs. Read '. is the teacher, and Mr. D. Shepherd the ] commissioner. The tone, of the school i seems particularly good. There is a i neatly-kept garden' surrounded by a < fence, for the renewal of which a. re- ! quest was made. This school was ori- '■ ginally built by the Taranaki Board. The enlargement and removal of the ' shed which encroached were asked, ] whilst it was stated that the fence re- ' quired renewing, and was now on the wrong line. The Board decided to obtain a plan of the area from the Department and to instruct the overseer , to report as to the removal of the ad- , joining land. The children were given a holiday in honor of the visit; MATIERE '[ A run of three miles "back, then a 1 couplo of miles across a high saddle, whence charming views of Matiere and < the surrounding country, were obtained, ; and the latter township was reacted. Hero wms seen the first glimpses of the : formation of the north end of the Okn-hukura-Stratford railway, the line being formed with the exception of some cuttings, fillings, tunnels and bridges to be completed this far. The work of excavating the site of the Matiere station yard has also ■ been commenced. The school is an old one-rcomed building situated, on the corner of a five-acre site in a position. The school is an old building, comprising one small room, which now appears tc be used as a band room. The children are accommodated in the public hail, but as this is used one day per month foi a Court —it was Court day when the Board visited the school— the children have to he a holiday on this occasion. They were employed in the school garden. The roll number is 70, and the old school can only hold 38. A grant has been obtained for the additions to the school It is built on the corner of the section, and the chairman and members of the Board considered it would bo advisable to remove it more into the centre of the section, and an estimate will be obtained of the cost, which should not be much, as the building is built in sections. An entrance from the main road i will also be. made, and the schoolhouse , will be painted as recommended. Mr. Jenkins (chairman) and Mr. Rolf (memi her of the School Committee) asked that , an improved stove should be supplied, i and that Nihoniho should be given a [' committee. Mr. Bicheno is headmaster at Matiere, and he ia assisted by Miss : Greville. ; MAHIRIKAU. Six miles further on, passing en route ' one or two small railway tunnels, a 1 sawmill and some extensive brickworks, : Mahirikau was reached. This is at the junction of the Ongarue and Okahukura roads, from which it is 12 and six miles J distant respectively. It has an average r attendance of 31, Mr. Taylor being the j teacher. Mr. North met the Board and asked that the school should he re- ]>. moved 2 1 /, miles along the Ongarue road ' to a Government reserve, which he stated was the centre of the district and more suitable for the majority of the r children. The teacher suggested the establishment of half-time schools. OKAHUKURA. Six miles over a high saddle, with a perfect surfaced road, brought the. party • to Okahukura, where a brief visit of iri--1 spection was made to the school, a gal- > vanised iron structure, in good order, • with a neat little garden. Miss Wood i 9 the teacher of this school, which ur- -- gently requires enlargement, as there are 09 children on the.roll, and it can only accommodate 40. It is a Public ' Works school. At present very few men t are employed, only 30, as compared with ; 200 a while ago. A few men are engaged erecting a combined railway and t traffic biidge over the Ongarue stream. 1 at tho junction of the Stratford line with the Main Trunk railway. At .. this township lunch was obtained. As r the Taumaruuui show was being held - some seven or eight miles away we did . not see either teachers, children or '. committeemen. On the chairman's iu"- :, gestion, application will at once be '. made for a grant for the enlargement - of the school

On arriving back at MaVrikau, Mr. Kerr Maxwell, an old Stratfordian, waited on the Board ai, 1 pr..'cstcd against the removal of tin- .., as several settler?, three of «V. a t. ..■► bad twelve children at the -*"**-■* V * ■' 1)0 <:°-M----inentall.v affected "f at pointed out Hint some A" 12 \M 1 :uU raised for school improves i-, A WM now in the hands of ■■■ c nimlssionei, Mr. Plank. They - .' (also like to have power to id- i y ', iittce,,a 'jowmwhieii ths'AuoMj ,ud wouki'never give them. The.elm- ' out thai flie Turnuaki al..u, ,n-

couraged the appointment of committee, who could assist the Board in many ways. There was some doubt whether the site which was handed over by the Public Works Department in exchange for the original site, which they had taken for a pumice reserve, was vested in the school. • When this was ascertained, the necessary particulars will be forwarded to enable a school district to he defined. A run over a short saddle brought the members to\he site to which Mr. Xorth wanted the school removed. This was inspected. JCcar by was seen a waggon load of sacks of chair lying rotting on the roiuisido, the state of the roads in the winter having prevented them being removed any further. ONGARUE. A run of 8% miles, the last few in rather uninviting pumice country, and OnjKtrue was reached. This is a sawmilling township. The school, which is of the latest pattern, consists of two lofty, well lighted and ventilated rooms, each capable of seating 50 children, with an assemly hall, fitted with ponelnin basins and a strong type of coathook. Stoves neatly bricked in gave an appearance of comfort. Advantage has been taken of the configuration of the ground to build a roomy shelter shed, or gymnasium, under the school building, well lighted, and with concrete floor, fireplace, etc. This school was recently completed by the Auckland Education Board, and .it impressed members very favorably. The grounds were also well kept, Mr. A. Lr.ngdon and Miss N. Blake being the teachers. Being show day at Taumaru*- j nui, the school .was closed, and the Board were not met by any member of the committee.

Here Mr. Parkes, of Paraketu valley, about ten miles further on, asked the Board to erect a schobl on $ site of 3'/. acres, which he had given the Auckland Board two years ago. They had a teacher, but the building'''they were using, the property of a man \vho had gone to the war. was likely .to he sold, and they would be without a building. Thirteen children were affected., It was suggested that the empty school building at Manawapouri might'be utilised, and Mr. Parkes undertook that if this were put on the tracks at Okahukura and railed to Waimihia, he would eart it in and build it, with the assistance of the other settlers. Steps will be taken to see if this ean he done. After a- short stay at Ongarue for afternoon tea, the return journey was made to Ohura, which W33 reached after dark, the 29 miles being covered in an hour and fifty minutes.

CONCLUDED ON .FRIDAY. Tho members of the Education Board concluded their tour of the backblocks of the province on Friday, "A splendid success!" exclaimed the chairman of the Board (Mr. Masters), in answer to a request from the News' representative to express his opinion of the recent trip of the Education Board members to the backblocks. "It exceeded my most sanguine expectations, and quite bears out my contention that personal contact between settlers and members of the Board is in every way desirable. Not only was. this proved from the point of view of the policy of the Board, but such * visit had become necessary on aeount of the new and enlarged district as the result of the recent altered boundaries of the Auckland and Tarana.Ki boards.

"I might mention that over 15 new I: schools, with an attendance of 500 pu- j pils, have been brought without our jurisdiction from the Auckland Board, and as the Ohura district is fast developing and will require assistance in the way of finance for the upkeep of their grounds, shelter sheds, etc., such a trip as has just been concluded w r as excellent business in view of the future expenditure of the Board's funds. "As every member will have noticed, the keenest interest was taken by the committees and settlers in obtaining facilities for their children, and they -were not slow in recogn'sing the truth of the adage that 'the Board helps them who help themselves.' In hardly a single instance where demands for expenditure by the Board were made were the settlers not ready—aye, glad—to provide their share. The Board met them in a liberal manner, and so agreements were bound. Tdie fact that all concerned were able to Wet and discuss on the ground the pros \n<l eons of the demands, I am sure, wilTdo much to cement the excellent relations now established between the Board and the various school committees. Its influence for the good working of the Board's business and education generally .wiljr remain for years. "Ono point that made a particular impression on the members of the Board was the urgent necessity of some alteration being made in the Education Act in reference to cases where settlement is sparse, and the facilities for education small numbers of children being ' absent. The present regulation provides thai where there are less than nine (children £G per head shall be paid for teaching. This allows for £4B for eight children. While the parents may be ! called upon to provide annually a sufficient sum to bring the salary up to 1 £110; m the event of there being an average attendance of nine, £llO would be paid, together with £2O house allowance. The minimum should be so that where an attendance of five can he secured that the Department should pro vide a teacher. We have returned with ■ the firm determination to do ail in our ■ power tn assist the parents and child- , ren in the backblocks in the matter of i educational facilities. Their lot is hard ■ indeed, considering the state of the ■ roads at times and the length which 1 some of the little ones have to travel : to and from school.. In connection with i tlie latter drawback, however, it is interesting to note the appreciation of the estabrshment of half-time schools. In the ease of at least one familv, the . children travel first to one and then to ■ the other, on each side of their home, making six days each week. 'Such nsi siduity and perseverance in the pursuit of education must be supported wherever possible.

i 'ln conclusion, on behalf of the Board, I have to tender to the.people en route our best thanks for the great hospitality extended to us, and assure them such kindness will not be forgotten. I am convinced the visit will prove highiv beneficial to various districts and also to the lioard in its dei-bcrations in the lUturc.''