TE WAI PONAMU COLLEGE

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 34, 17 March 1914, Page 2

TE WAI PONAMU COLLEGE

THE BIG WORK AT OHOKA. Te Wai Pounamu College for Native Girls, at Ohoka, entersr4ts sixth year. The report of the last year sets out the steady increase in numbers of the pupils. At the close of the year there were 24 in the school. These came" from as far south is the island of Rfiapuke in Foveaux Straits, and from Nelson in the north and Chatham Island in ( the east. So Maori life in Te Wai Pounamu has been launched to its extreme boundaries. There are places within these boundaries not yet affected by the work of the college, but the increasing popu : larity amongst the Maoris of the work leads the authorities with some assurance to hope that the aim of the school to reach Maori life at every point will in the near future be attained. "Attempts were made during the year to obtain a more generous recognition on the part of the Government of the work at Ohoka. The matter was prominent on more than one occasion. A deputation waited on the Minister of Education in Wellington, and the matter was referred to in the House of Lords by the Maori Member for the Southern Districts, Mr C. Parata. Our efforts were partially successful, our objective being the right to train any Maori scholarship girls at Wai Pounamu and a more liberal treatment in the matter of scholarships for Chatham Island girls." TELLING THE STORY. This brief quotation from the annual report for 1913 show what is being done, and yet fail to convey the idea that lies behind. They speak of a measure of success, but do not tell the whole story. Between five and six years ago the college opened in the old vicarage at Ohoka. It was not an entirely suitable building, nor was it very new. Two big rooms were built on to serve as class rooms. As the work grew, and more pupils came, there were constructed sleeping places in the\grounds, built of rubberoid. There we're miserable years, when it seemed that the seed had indeed fallen upon stony places, and* that it was to be a very difficult matter to help those who had small desire to be helped." Those times have passed, and Tith added knowledge the Maorid would overcrowd the college. There are three such institutions in the North Island; yet North Island girls would like to come down. *

MAKING GOOD HOUSEWIVES. The aims of the college are known widely now. It does not purpose any "forcing" of education, does not lean to the ideals of "higher" education save in the case of those who have apti J tude. What it desires is to make housewives—to prepare women to be good wives, fair examples to others; to so train its pupils that they will help their race, and so help the country as a whole. It may seem a big ideal; but the college reaches it, has reached it, and has convinced the native race that' it is an ideal worth striving after. The school work is of the ordinary sort, all done in English. Mr J. Porteous, Inspector of Native Schools, says that the examination results were generally vejy satisfactory indeed. The girls in Standard VII. had made considerable progress in the secondary subjects, and 1 two girls in Standard VI. gained certificates of proficiency. One pupil now holds a National Scholarship in the Girls' High School, returning home to the college for her week-ends. It is absolutely practical, this training at Te Wai Pounamu. There are six acres of land about the college, and six cows are run. The girls manage the dairy, making all the butter required. They keep the gardens well. They do all the housework themselves, and it is a great credit to the senior girls that the Government inspector found so much to praise in their tidyness; WHERE THE PUPILS COME FROM. Last year there were fifteen pupils. This year there are to be more —one from Cheviot, one from Ruapuke Island.', Foveaux Straits; thre v e v from Stewart Island; three from Ohoka, in the Sounds; four from Otago Heads; five from Little.River; three from Kaiapoi; four from the Chathams. It is anticipated that others will,come also. And so far as is possible none of these are free pupils, a charge of £2O per year being made when this is practicable. There are, however, a number of scholarships. At a pinch the college can hold thirty pupils, and it is believed that this year its accommodation may be taxed to the utmost. Better times loom ahead for the college, even from the financial point of view. The whole of the contributions to its upkeep have been voluntary, and' the raising of the £6OO and more per year required has been a matter calling for thought. Now Te Wai Pounamu Association has branches all over the South Island, and.it' will aid much in the matter of upkeep. Even the problem of the so-necessary rebuilding may be met, for at the Christchurch Synod, October 14-18, 1913, it was decided, on the motion of the Rev. Ganon Sedgwick: "That this synod recognises as a fitting local memorial to the Marsden Centenary the erection of modern and permanent buildings suitable for carrying on the educational work recently established at Ohoka for the Maori girls of the South and Chatham Islands," * Afterwards. What happens to the girls afterwards? If possible, a family is found who will have the girl to live with them, and will pay her for her help. In no case is a girl allowed to go as a domestic servant, as it is felt that such experience would hot be of the most helpful for her. Family life, with a share of responsibility, is believed to be the best post-graduate course. From it they go to their own places, there to help others as they themselves have been helped to home life as we know it. Leaving all other matters . aside, when a girl comes to the college she improves immensely under the effect of steady meals and regular life. Such things established in the kianga cannot but fail to aid the race.

The great work of the Eev. A. Fraer and Mrs Frae'r has been referred to. Others also deserve praise. Miss' L. W. Opie, M.A., the principal; Miss F. Ashby, the house mistress; Miss H. Carrington, the assistant house mistress; the two pupil teachers. And especially Dr John W. Crawshaw, of Kaiapoi, who, as'honorary medical officer, has taken the keenest interest in it all.