"BOARD'S ATTITUDE REVEALED."

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19622, 18 May 1929, Page 12

"BOARD'S ATTITUDE REVEALED."

STATEMENT BY MEMBER OF LEAGUE. Approached by a Pbxss reporter yesterday, a prominent member of the executive of the Open-air Schools' Leagu« mad® the following statement regarding the decision of the Canterbury Education Board:— "Ever since the Open-air Schools' League came into being the Canterbury Education Board has proclaimed itself a strong supporter, in theory, of the League's principles, but when it comes to the point of applying those principles in a practical manner, the Board doos not display the same enthusiasm. As a rule, the open-air school is passed over in favour of the old closed-in type. As the Board them-? selves admit, they have ignored their own resolution and have built nineteen ■ethook orf the stated time adopt-

ing a resolution which appears to have pledged them to the open type. "The League would like to agree with tho statement of the Board that the latter has never opposed the League or its principles, but the simple fact remains that in several instances the

league has had to fight strenuously, and not always successfully, in its en- ' deavour to get the right type of school built. The first open-air school, that of Fendalton, was built in spite of the Board, and was paid for with funds raised privately. Cashmere, West Spreydon, Papanui, Richmond, and other schools are cases in point where the Board opposed the League and showed itself hostile to the principles of the League. The Board, of course, are in no way bound to agree with what the League advocates, bnt it s only right that the public should know the facts of the case. "Mr Andrews's reference to the Fendalton school as a 'blot on the landscape' revealed the true attitude if himself and some other members of the Board toward the open-air movement. In spite of their protests to the contrary, they dislike open-air schools intensely. Mr Andrews's remarks will only succeed in causing sincere regret in the minds of most people that a man in a public position should in such a manner. Visitors abroad, among them educational experts. have consistently expressed approval of the Fendalton School and the testimony of parents over the four or five years of the school's existence is, in itself, sufficient proof of the success of the school. On the whole, the public are not likely to feel an> increase in confidence in the Board as a result of its most recent handling oi the question of open-air schools."