ASKED FOR MORE.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 19, 23 January 1929, Page 9

ASKED FOR MORE.

CONVEYANCE OF CHILDREN.

CONTRACTORS DISSATISFIED.

NEW EDUCATION PROBLEM.

Conveyance of children to schools in the rural districts of the Auckland province is involving the Auckland Education Board in considerable expense. Annually, at the beginning of the year, the problem of increasing cost has to be • faced, and the importance of the problem is shown by the possibility of the board's liability being £1000 this year, compared with £600 for 1928.

Tenders received at a meeting of the board to-day indicated that contractors had found the previous charges unremunerative and larger sums were wanted. At present, the Education Department, recognising the advantages of the consolidated system, makes a grant of- 6d a child, and in exceptional cases Bd, for each school day. This grant is distributed by the Auckland board, but is insufficient without an additional sum being paid by the board out of its own funds.

"How can the Government expect tenderers to carry pupils for less than a shilling?" asked Mr. Burns, chairman, in recalling the Department's experiments at Piopio.

The only alternative, if the Government refused to increase its grant, added Mr. Burns, was to make payments to the committees concerned, allowing them to make their own arrangements with the parents in the districts for the conveyance of children to school.

"It is hopeless to expect the Government to give us. a larger grant," said Mr. Jas. Boddie.

Mr. Burns: Well, the sooner the matter is faced with the Department the better. The cost is gradually increasing and nearly all the contractors are asking for more.

On the motion of the chairman it was decided to send the tenders on to the Department for its instructions as to what action should be taken to provide for conveyance this year. The Public Works Department, in a memorandum, suggested there should be co-operation between the authorities controlling school conveyances and the officers of the Public Works Department in order that children should be protected from undue risk, due to overcrowding or other unsatisfactory conditions. The Department also asked what procedure was adopted to ensure that all necessary precautions were taken to avoid overcrowding. A suggestion was made by the Department that no contracts should be entered into with bus owners until buses were presented for inspection to the nearest district engineer of Public Works, and that buses should be subject to supervision by the Department.

"No outside interference," was the warning given by Mr. Jas..Boddie, in regard to the Public Works Department proposals.

Mr. Burns said the difficulty of obtaining contracts for the conveyance of children would be greatly increased by additional conditions. Headmasters were at present acting in the capacity of supervisors for the board where necessary, and important improvements in the methods of conveyance had been noted.

It was decided to reply that the board was satisfied with the present precautions taken to ensure the safe conveyance of children.