Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 1914. NEGLECTED SCHOOLS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXIII, Issue 8831, 6 May 1914, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 1914. NEGLECTED SCHOOLS.

A very deplorable state of affairs was disclosed by speakers at the annual meeting of householders at the Ashburton Borough School, and in a lesser degree J the burden of their complaint was re-echoed at the meetings at Hampstead and Tinwald. The 1 -resolution passed ;by the Borough householders leaves no room for-doubt: on the part of the Education Boatd oirthe Department either as to the ..very^ urgent need forva new school or the dissatisfaction- of .parents , at. the continued neglect of the authorities to'attend to what is acknowledged to be little less than a public scandal.; "The rooms are much too' small to accommodate the number of children- attending the school; the buildings a'i'e old, unsightly, and in many, parts rotting; they are distinctly insanitary and badly lighted; and teachers and scholar^, alike are handicapped in their work." So I'iin.s the resolution of protest, •an 4 "surely no more damning indictment of the condition of a public school was ever penned. It will come as a shock to manyi parents to learn that their child-j ren 'have had to. pursue theiri studies amidst such surroundings j as these, and it would not be surprising if they made a determined stand and.refused to allow them to , resume attendance at school until the Department promises a grant for a new and up-to-date building. That would be a drastic .step, but it would be warranted .by the facts. It is hoped; the Committee will not rest content with the evidence of 'moral support of the parents that the resolution supplies, and .we siiggest that a represeiiiatiye deputa-. tion waits iipon tKe ', Educatiorf Board at its next meeting and ■in- 1 sists upon the matter being urgently brought under the notice of-the .Department. The. question of a new site seems to-have exercised the minds of the householders, but the Borough Council appears to have more waste land than, it can find profitable use for, and it should not be a difficult matter to arrange an exchange of sites. The outstanding point to be stressed, however, is the fact that the present school is, not fit ; for ■ occupation. Any, '; i act oryowner ' wlioi provided such accommodation for his employees would be prosecuted by the Health Department, and what is against the law in the one case is doubly reprehensible in the case of a Government department. The school attendances at \Hampstead and Tinwald appear to have outgrown the capacity,of the buildings, which fact emphasises once more the short-sighted policy of the Department and Education Boards in providing- only for immediate requirements. A similar complaint has been made in every education district in the Do- ! minion ; recently it was stated at

a meeting of the Auckland Education Board that in four years a school in the King Country had had to be enlarged three times. In new settlements it is often difficult to gauge the requirements, but \in boroughs and towns there is no excuse for not making' provision for the growth L of population. The revelations made on Monday night: lend strength to the contention of the "Guardian" that the present boundaries of the North Canterbury Education Board are too extended, and that the creation of a new education district., with Ash-! burton as its centre, is essential ii the interests of the 44 schools in the County are to be properly attended'to. The Board does its best with the means at its disposal, but these are totally inadequate to enable it .to do justice to tJie large number of schools in its, urtweilcly district. The . whole system of education administration sadly needs a wholesome shaking up. The functions of the boards have been whittled away till ; they are now merely gobetweens of the Department and the school committees, without stable finance or even the power of initiative, im£ until. tUisi.state of affairs is improved the pres »)t chaotic conditions will continue.