BACKBLOCKS EDUCATION.

Taranaki Daily News, 11 August 1921, Page 4

BACKBLOCKS EDUCATION.

PROVIDING ACCOMMODATION. DESIGN FOR/MOVABLE BUILDINGS. Among the many problems which confront the Education Board in dealing with the provision of school facilities in outlying districts is that of securing suitable accommodation for the school and for the teacher. The Taranaki Board seem to have secured something near a solution of the difficulty in the movable residences which have recently been constructed to the design of the overseer (Mr. C. H. Moore). /The residences are 18 feet by 12 feet, and have a comfortable appearance. They are neatly constructed in Oregon, and despite the fact that the structures are built in sections, for handy removal, are quite solid with a workmanlike finish. The cost of each building, delivered to site, is estimated at £2OO.

The two places recently' constructed as a sample are made so that one man can hamate any one section if necessary, and they are all interchangeable. When taken to pieces they can be packed on drays, or even sledges. The windows and doors are contained in the sections, and can be placed on any side to suit the site and orientation. Besides simplicity in erection, quickness of construction is also a strong point of these residences. The two buildings, including the joinery, were got out of timber in the rough and completed in four weeks.

The fact that the two first residences have been completed was reported by the architect to yesterday’s meeting of the Taranaki Education Board, and be expressed the opinion that the work done by the joinery staff under the foreman (Mr. Millar) would prove very satisfactory. Continuing, the architect remarked: I have given the matter of movable school buildings considerable attention for a long time, and I feel sure, all country schools could be built on this plan at a third less cost than at present. What is required is a decent-sized workshop and yard space, and then schools could all be got out quite simply.

Mr. R. Masters, M.P., congratulated |he architect on having reached success in producing a building to a compact design. The chairman (Mr. P. J. White) also congratulated the architcet, and he said that the design could very welj be used for movable schools. It would be a great saving to the country, as, according to the Minister (the Hon. C. J. Parr) the cost of establishing a grade O school, including the site, was about £lOOO, It was decided that one of the l residences be despatched to Mahirakau.