EDUCATION BOARD.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 2960, 26 July 1888, Page 2

EDUCATION BOARD.

The ordinary, monthly meotim> of the -Wellington Education Board was held yesterday. Present;— Messrs J. D, Blair, (Chairman), H, Bunny, F. H. Fraser, J. Young, A. W. Brown, G, Beetham, \V. 0. Buchanan, Dr Newman, and the Rev J, Patterson. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed, and tho paysheet -for the month, £2381 13s 6d, was passed. A deputation from Pahautanui waited upon the Board with respect to the school in that district, They stated that the building was in such a state of dilapidation that numbers of children were prevented from attending. They considered tho best course to adopt wa3 to erect a new school altogether. After some discussion,tho Chairman assured the Committee that.the Board would do; its best in the matter, and it was finally decided that Inspector Lee accompanied by an architect, should visit the district and report, ;•■■;/ \ '•The new rules.and regulations of,the; Board were then considered at length. . Bcferring to the clause re .vacations, the; Chairman said it was his. opinion that holidays were becoming fur too common a thing in the public schools of tho district, and ttia Board should take steps to prevent the dismissal of* children for tli? mere sake of football, cricket and- the like.. Aftor a little discussion, the regulation was adopted with a slight amendment. • \;,

It was decided that a circular bo issued to all Committees, advising them to take overy precaution for tho prevention of fires. , In considering the clause re cleanliness Mv Buchanan called attention to the fact that some of tho schools in tho district were far from being in a clean condition.

A long discussion took place over the reduction of tlie salaries of teachers, during which the Chairman remarked that the Government who had been returned on the ticket of the working man A'cre working against their constituents, and were upholding colleges etc., for the benefit of the luVb class, In the matter of aided schools, the number of families to he represented at such schools wcro reduced from three to two, Mr A, W. Brown stating that ho knew a man in the Forty Mile Bush with eleven children who had married a widow with nine, making a total of twenty in all. On the motion of Mr Eraser, Eichardsou's Temperance book was added to the list of sohool reading books. ■

During the discussion on reading books, Mr Bunny observed that children now-a-days, instead of studying the essentials of education, reading, writing, and arithmetic, were beitig taught about tho stars in the firmament and the rivers in Bussia,

Mr Buchanan' concurred with the remarks of Mr Bunny, and objected to children being crammed, After some remarks from monibers regarding the Government of pupils, supervision of play-ground etc., the rules and regulations were adopted in their amended form,.

Tho articles which had appeared in the Now Zealand Times and Mail respecting the moral conduct of pupil teachers in the district schools wero then considered. It appears that the Times published a letter signed" a married man" whioh stated that when passing a certain school he was accosted by a young woman, a pupil teacher, who insisted on having a conversation with him and was very improper in her behaviour, and the lotter had been commented on.

The Chairman characterized the article as a gross libel, He held that there was nothing whatever in the affair referred to. Tho Committee of the school, and the Inspector, had come to this conclusion after making strict enquiries,

Mr Buchanan said it was a great shame tint such an article should have been inserted in a newspaper, Messrs Patterson, Young, Brown, Newman, and Inspector Lee referred to their experiences in mixed schools, but neither of these gentlemen had ever heard of such actions by teachers, as rcferred'to in the . Mr Bunny said he would like that married man to appear before the Board. ■

After a deal of discussion, in which the Times was severely censiired, the following resolution was passed: "That mj%-opmioihof this Board ;the

articles. under-: discussion lntely no foundation in fact;:; so fa ; Msfi the Wellington Educational distriotiisl'S concerned, and the Boards very;, much;'i"l'fgrnts that the proprietor of : the\'Ne'w>' 4fi Zealand Times and Mail "decline to ;;W furnish the .Board with tho alleged XM information upon which the articles S were founded." ' - : ?--'^'^'y. The resignation- of Mr Edward ;'; Edridge, master of llie Ta'ueiu School, :? was accepted, and appointed to fill the vacancy.: v'•'. : ' r ' , ''- r WI Leave of absence was granted to : CS Miss Alice Lockie, of the Mount Cook !;■ Girl's .school.--: -.., ;;v The Whitemnn Valley. Committee' -v' applied for asewing teacher, but their ;v application was not granted., ''y-: : K ; No successor was appointed to Miss■ r;' Jupp, of the Masterton School, and : the: ;; Board concluded that ; ;they had,;no:;; funds for the erection of a second :; school at the north end of Masterton;.;;' ■A grant of M was made to the.;.; ■ Manuka schools, for ; repairs and addi-:: lions, t -;-";-: ; ;: •■'•:'-.. 'i : \o'- :,^'^: y. The Pabiatua Committee 1 was al-;;; v lowed £5 for the removal of outbuild-'■£..: ■■■ ings, .and.the Eketahuna' Committee;"u tlie sanie amount for a dividing fence ;; : v and she)tersheds...; ' y-. 1 -"-.}'); ;.* •'-' ■ -The'Board .'cpnclnded:'tlia£ !'the ; Ktti-,.:v ; -": waiwai' school election was quite leEjaJ.'. ;; '. A "gvnnfc ; ofii4Br.wns;raadeJp-tho;; •; school for additions, :• : -'-> ; v ;" The inbet|hg : then terminated. V?:, - ! ;