EDUCATION.

Taranaki Daily News, 3 September 1920, Page 5

EDUCATION.

GREATER EXPENDITURE. HIGH COST OF BUILDING, HEALTH OF CHILDREN. (By Wire.—Parliamentary Reporter.) Wellington, Last Night. The Education Department's report, presented to Parliament to-night, shows an expenditure of £2,544,001, an increase of £557,770 for the year, and an increase of over £1,000,000 over the corresponding expenditure five years ago. The increased cost of the erection of school huildingg has become very serious, for schools are now costing twice as much as under pre-war conditions, and sometimes no tenders at all are received in response to advertisements, while sometimes only one or two are received. Prices are still rising, and the large sums that are being even now spent on school buildings are tending to inflate prices, especially in districts where the school population is rapidly increasing.! It is a matter of great concern whether the State is getting the best value for its expenditure at the present time, and it may be temporarily found necessary to impose restrictions with respect to the accommodation that is to be regarded as absolutely essential. IMPERFECT EDUCATION. There has been an improvement in the regularity of attendance in every education district, the best results being obtained in Otago 92.1, and Wellington f11.5. It is stated to be a regrettable fact that 39 per cent, of the primary school pupils leave school without reaching the very moderate standard of education represented by Standard VI. Sa 1 - teen per cent, of the pupils leave school without doing the work of Std. V. The School Journal, which costs £6200 a year, is used as a reader, the total issue of the three parts being 175,200. The complaints regarding the expense to which parents are put by reason of their having to purchase new books for their children when they move from one district to another arc not so common as formerly, and there are good grounds for believing thaj, the attention drawn by the department to the provision that iii these cases, class books must be supplied free hah resulted in the relief of parents with respect to such charges. There are also similar grounds for believing that the provision of the free supply of classbooks ij necessitous cases is being more generally complied with. The question of making some further provision in the direction of supplying certain text books free of cost is at present receiving the attenion of the Government. MEDICAL INSPECTIONS. The work of medical inspection has been extended. Thirty thousand children were completely examined, and a much larger number were partially examined, or examined specially for suspected' defects. The commonest physical defect is dental disease. Next come defects of the nose, throat, ear, and eye. The supervision of the health of children during the pre-school period is now urged as being of even greater importance than supervision during school life. One of the best results of the work of school medical inspection and physical education has been the unprecedented manner in which the importance of the physical welfare of the child has been brought. home to teachers?, and more especially to parents. Parents frequently meet the school medical officers at the medical examination of their children, and gladly accept the' advice given, using every endeavour to have remedied the physical defects pointed out to them. The parents are in a position to do infinitely more for the physical welfare of the children than are any Government officers, and one of 'the chief aims of the system should be, and is, the education and guidance of parents in matters pertaining to health from the birth of the child onwards. The heavy increase in the proportion of female teachers, which took place during the war, has beci) arrested.