ALEXANDRA.

Tuapeka Times, Volume V, Issue 250, 14 November 1872, Page 8

ALEXANDRA.

(From our own Correspondent.)

The following petition has been presented to the Alexandra School Committee :—: — To the Chairman and members of the

Alexandra School Committee.

The memorial of the undersigned inhabitanta of Alexandra and neighbourhood, humbly sheweth: -That your memorialists desire to bring before the school committee the present high rale of school fees, which in the case of parents having several children attending school, amounts to a serious tax, and one which at the present time they can hardly afford to pay ; and consequently many children are prevented from attending the school by the inability of their parents to bear the expense. That your memorialists would also draw your attention to the present exorbitant charge for school books, which makes a serious addition to the cost of educating children, and presents this strange anomaly, that while the Education Board is endeavoring to disseminate information amongst the adult population by grants of books to public libraries, the school committee sanction a scale of prices for the books greatly in excess of the rate at which they could be purchased from private firms. Your memorialists therefore request that the committee will consent to such a reduction of the school charges as will carry out the intention of the framers of the Education Act, by bringing the cost of educating children within the means of all classes of the community. And your memorialists, &c.

Twenty four signatures of parents who have children attending the school were attached to the petition.