DECLINING SCHOOLS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 88, 14 April 1927, Page 8

DECLINING SCHOOLS.

IN MIDST OF THE CITY.

WORKERS MOVING OUT.

TEACHING STANDARD LOWERED.

The steady shifting of city workers to suburban homes, which has been a phase of Auckland social life in the last two years, has set up an unexpected problem for the city schools. At last nights annual meoting of householders, the committee reported that for the first time in four years it had ended the year in debt, and without hope of improvement in the immediate future. Mr. O. Mc Brine stated that four years ago the committee had given £100 to provide the children in the Nelson Street, Napier Street and Beresfoid Street schools with free stationery. In 15»2o they had donated £80 for that purpose, but last vear thev had not l>een able to help the parents "by a vote to provide free stationery for the children, and yet they could not make ends meet.

This position Mr. W. Millar pointed out was due to the decline in school attendance, winch had decreased the capitation grant to the committee, and had also had the more serious effect of lowering the grading of the schools, withthc result that the efficiency and standard of the teaching was lowered. The onlv remedy lay in closing one of the schools and distributing the children to the other two, so that the teaching standard of the schools would he kept up, and the capitation grants could he spent properly on two schools instead of being diffused over three schools. In 1011 there were GtiO children at Napier Street and the same number at ftcresford Street, but now the three schools could not muster more than 1311 children. He moved that the Department l>e asked to close one of the schools and distribute the children in the other two.

Mr. T. Sparkes (chairman) stated that already the schools had gone down in the teaching prade. and that Nelson Street school's average attendance was only 404. which meant another fall in grade immediately the attendance fell below 400.

Mr. It. Appleton said the removal of workers, who formed the bulk of the school population, to homes in the sub. nrbs was the chief cause of the fall in school attendance. But in a few weeks a denominational school was to be opened in Wellington Street, and this would cause a further fall in the attendance at the public schools. The meeting unanimously carried the motion requesting the Education Department to concentrate the pupils in two schools and close the third one.

A motion was also carried requesting the Department to have the Napier Street playground cleaned up and made habitable for the children before the winter months arrived.