GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOL.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 September 1920, Page 6

GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOL.

THE HOSTELRY SCHEME, OLD GIRL'S APPEAL. The Old Girls' Association of the New Plymouth High School have for some time been interesting themselves in a fcheme lc» provide further boarding accommodation in connection with the tcliool. Cabinet has promised a subsidy of ;£ for .C on the amount the Old Girls'' Association raise, the grant not to exceed C7")OU. Tim Association aims at raisiflg at least ;C7SUO. In a circular letter the Old Girls' Association state there is no real boarding house at the school, but. the Board of Governors lias for some years had the lease of Strandon, a private house which lias been made to serve the purpose although not entirely suitable.. This, house, taxed to its utmost capacity, and at considerable inconvenience to the principal and staff, accommodates fiftyfive girls, but ever since, in 1913, a boarding establishment was first opened in connection with the school, there have been more boarders offering than could be accommodated, and now that on all sides there is an increasing demand from parents that their daughters shall receive the best and broadest education possible, the situation has become really acute. The Old Girls' Association continues: "It must be borne in mind that the school and its boarding-house serve a very large area. It is the only school of its kind in Taranaki. The boardinghouse constitutes the only provision made for proficiency pupils from country primary schools, and those of us who are closely in touch with the school know the fine stamp of girls coming from the rural districts. They have won the right to free secondary education, their parents are willing and eager to secure it for them, but until adequate boarding accommodation is available they have no hope of continuing their studies, except by paying the school fees for tuition at some private institution or by boarding in the town, and thus losing the careful supervision which in most cases is ensured only by a board-ing-house controlled by a school. Since November, over thirty girls have had to ■be turned away by the principal, and others making inquiries at the Board's office have been met with the information that the boarding-house is full. Moreover, in New Plymouth, as in most other New Zealand towns, private board is at present almost unobtainable. This is a state of affairs which we feel must not be allowed to continue. If the school cannot, go forward it must inevitably go back. At once, we arc making our appeal t(/the people of Taranaki for their interest, for support, and for monetar contributions, so that the Government may have speedy proof of our determination to secure for Taranaki girls educational facilities equal to those afforded by other collegiate schools. "Of late years it lias been borne ( in upon us with ever-increasing emphasis that we have no asset comparable with the youth of the country. Our growing boys and girls are those to whom we must look to carry on the torch of progress, to make ihe world ever a saner and sweeter place a? a. generation succeeds generation. The time has gone by when ignorance in a woman was thought rather commendable than otherwise. We realise to-day that womanhood plays an equally important part with manhood in the moulding of the world's destiny, and that the more time and care wo can devote to the training of our girls the finer will be their impress on the next generation." It is intended by the Old Girls' Association trf devote all contributions 'to a Copper Trail, which it is hoped to run right round Jit. Egmont, in :he shape of ft contest between Xew Plymouth and the rest of Taranaki. New Plymouth will endeavor to lay a trail to Hawora, via Inglcwood, Stratford, and Eltham, a distance roughly of fifty miles, while the rest of Taranaki will cover the distance New Plymouth and llawera,.via Okato, Rahotu, and Opunake, also roughly fifty miles. Various schemes are in hand in New Plymouth, including concefu and other entertainments, a Mart Hay. coin pcti tious and subscriptions, for it is realised that the town will need to bestir itself to beat the country. All contributions will be acknowledged in the press, and from time to time the distance covered wall be announced. For the convenience of contributors, donations, if so desired, may be paid in quarterly instalments.