PORTABLE SCHOOLS.

Auckland Star, Volume LII, Issue 214, 8 September 1921, Page 5

PORTABLE SCHOOLS.

BETTER THAN FIXE OLD BUILDINGS. Some interesting comments, wore made to-day on the subject of portable schools by the. superintendent of technical schools, Mr. \V. S. La Trobe, who is at present in Auckland.

"Those who condemn portable schools are condemning something which may possibly be the best solution of our difficulties,'' he said, when expressing his personal opinion on the subject to a

'"Star" representative. Mr. La Trobe pointed out that there was a demand for manual training schools that could not be met at the present time, and possibly Mime sort of movable temporary building might be necessary. What was wanted was a type of building' capable of being taken down and modified to -nit changing conditions. The flexibility of the portable, buildings was the important thing from the point of view of manual and technical colleges, in regard to which ideas advanced rapidly and improvement. ■; were constantly 'being .-ought. The=e portable bui-dings rou'd be remodelled without anything being scrapped. Mr. La Trohe «R:d it wa- better to have a movable building that could be quickly brought up-to-date in-te:id of a =rili<J brick editiee, which w.i-i incapable of be ; ng modernised. Tie pointed to the Xormal School in nirist'-hiirch a- a concrete exarnp'e, and remarked that the place wa= about seventy years old. Even London did not intend to put tip permanent structures for chemical' and other laboratories: all that was wanted was a good floor and a good roof, with plenty of lisrht, the place of course being weatherproof.