School Committee.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume III, Issue 139, 10 December 1901, Page 3

School Committee.

A special meeting of the Waimate [School Committee was held ou Saturday evening, Messrs Hamilton (chair), Scott (secretary), Colville, Nicol, Miller, Cameron, Smith, Mathias and Jackson (a full committee) being present. The Chairman explained that he had called the meeting at the request of the strawberry growers of the town. Owing to the new regulations with reference to heavy penalties for absence from school, boys would not stay away, and labour for strawberry picking was not to be bad. He thought they might close the school at once instead of waiting till Thursday next as arranged The strawberries had come in early this year, but the growers had made no representations to the committee that they wanted the boys until after the committee’s last meeting. It had been said that the school was being kept open later to suit the convenience of the teachers, but this was not true. The teachers had not been considered in the matter at all. He asked Mr Pitcaithly, who was present, to address the committee on the subject. Mr Pitcaithly said that not one of the teachers had ever tried to have the school kept open to suit hia or her convenience. They did not care whether the holidays came before Christmas or after. He alone was to be blamed for wishing the school kept open, and to his mind the reason for it was a very good one. The strawberry growers were anxious about their harvest, and he also was looking for his harvest. As they knew, almost all outside examinations came at the end of December or early in January, and if the school broke up in November the pupils who had had special teaching all the year would not get it during the last month, and would consequently run wild. The whole question was, should they shut the school in the interests of the strawberry crop or keep it open in the interests of higher education ? The raising of the standard and the age of exemption was at the root of the trouble. The growers

were anxious to get the boys from Standard 11. and upwards, as they would work for small | wages and bad not the sense to combine that the older boys had acquired. He was quite willing for the school to close a week earlier than arranged, but he pointed out that, last year there were no complaints, and the school was to close this year two days earlier than last. Mr Miller said it would be a pity that tlie school committee should be doing their b«st to kill a valuable-industry, and that had induced him to bring up the matter at last meeting. It was very hard that growers, and especially the small ones, couldnot have their own children to help pick their few strawberries, and there were other hard cases in which poor people looked forward to the strawberry picking to provide "both comforts and the necessaries of life. He thought, the school should close on Monday morning and reopen as arranged before.

Mr Jackson supported what MiMiller had said, pointing out that it was an advantage to close the school when tho attendance was as low as it had been the previous day.

it was decided, on the motion of Messrs Miller ami Jackson, to close the school on Monday morning and reopwn that day seven weeks.

The cnairmau was authorised to rent tho scuool ground for grazing purposes during tho holidays. The date of the school excursion was aherod to tho .drat Thursday in February.