CLOSING OF SCHOOLS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 290, 7 December 1944, Page 4

CLOSING OF SCHOOLS

IN the Auckland Education Board's area, which is by far the largest * in New.Zealand, the schools were closed on Tuesday afternoon, as a mark of respect for the board's late chairman, Mr. W J. Campbell. Complaints have been voiced on the ground that the notice closing the schools was inconveniently short, but a more important question is whether they should have been closed at all. The late Mr. Campbell had given leng and faithful service in educational administration; he was one of those men whose devfcted voluntary work, year in and year out, is indispensable to the community, and, on the whole, receives too little recognition. Due tribute to his services will be paid in appropriate places. To majority of children, nevertheless, not only he, but even his name, was unknown. How, then, could any purpose, such as would have commended itself to him, be served by sending children from school for the afternoon? This action should be reserved for occasions the significance of which is apparent to the children themselves, for national events important to adults and children alike, or, on the other hand, for events of great local moment, such as the death of a well-loved teacher. But the sudden-closing of a school at say, Waipapakauri, could have little effect on a child, except perhaps to impress it with the capricious power of an unseen authority hundreds of miles away.