BUILDING AND REPAIRS TO SCHOOLS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 39, 16 February 1939, Page 6

BUILDING AND REPAIRS TO SCHOOLS

WORK IN ORDER OF URGENCY LIST MUST BE CONFIDENTIAL POLITICAL LNTERFEKE.M E DEPLORED “The list of urgent works is kept strictly confidential,” said Mr. E. F. Hemingway, chairman of the Wanganui Education Board, at yesterday’s meeting, referring to the intended programme of improvements to buildings. “Otherwise there are heart burning amongst school committees if their particular schools are not high on the list,’’ he added. “It is a pity we cannot get a grant from the Government to do the whole of the works at once or grants to do the work as opportunity offers. We have to apply for permits in order of urgency and it may be 18 months before we can carry out some of the v. orks.” He added that the- board placed the : works in order of urgency on the ! recommendation of its experts, and if lit submitted the full list to the deI partment it might discover that there I had been political interference in order to place some school on the list ■out of ’he order of urgency decided on by the board. The board should be the body to decide and if the whole list was submitted it might find some member of Parliament going to the Minister and requesting a grant for a particular school. It that member of Parliament was successful, then the children of schools needing more urgent attention were penalised.