The Press TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1966. U Thant To Stay

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31235, 6 December 1966, Page 18

The Press TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1966. U Thant To Stay

The remarkable tribute of good will paid by members of the United Nations to the Secretary-General, U Thant, should greatly encourage him at the commencement of his second full term of office. Of the 121 members of the General Assembly, 120 voted for his reappointment, the one outstanding ballot being invalid. Seldom, if ever, has the Assembly been unanimous on such an important issue. U Thant's decision to stay on must have come as a relief to all delegates. Since the possibility of his retirement became known almost a year ago, every delegation has contributed to the campaign to persuade him to relent U Thant, in the end, apparently yielded to his own strong sense of duty. He is now 57; family ties and his desire to return to private life in his native Burma must have been hard to resist.

U Thant has felt keenly the frustrations of an office in which he has worked tirelessly, to the detriment of his health, with little apparent result. He had hoped to have the issues at stake in Vietnam resolved at the conference table; to see some progress towards correcting the balance in wealth between the “ have ” and the “ have not ” nations; to end the exclusion of Communist China, in spite of Peking’s professed contempt for him as the “tool” of the United States. He had striven also to overcome the difficulties within the United Nations over finance; and the fact that France and Russia were among the most clamant of the Powers urging him to continue in office suggests that they may have assured him of their intention to pay their share of future peace-keeping costs.

U Thant’s first concern, however, will be to stop the war in Vietnam—“one of the most barbarous “ wars in history ”, as he has called it. He remains convinced that the war will spread if the expansion of forces continues at the present rate. His decision to leave office was taken at a time when the United Nations was sharply divided over Vietnam and over racial conflicts in Africa, and was interpreted in some quarters as a rebuke to the major Powers for failing to meet their responsibilities to mankind. When announcing his resignation, he wrote that the cruelty of the struggle in Vietnam and the suffering it was causing were “a constant reproach to the “conscience of humanity”. It may be wondered whether his acceptance of office for another five years—instead of the three-year term he was expected to stipulate—was influenced by suggestions that a renewed bid to secure peace talks would have a better prospect of success than in the past. At any rate he is to continue his personal crusade for peace, as well as his efforts to help the world body to carry out more effectively the functions for which it was created—in a spirit of unity rather than of rivalry and schism. It would have been difficult, if not impossible, for the member States of the United Nations to find a successor with U Thant’s qualifications of prestige and competence. High School Rolls The Christchurch Secondary Schools’ Council was wise to refer to its special committee on development the proposal that the Bumside High School should increase its roll to 1200. Before this step is recommended to the Education Department it should be studied carefully. AR concerned seem to agree that this wiR be the most convenient way of relieving pressure of numbers on the schools in north-west Christchurch. It will provide another 200 places where the need is greatest. Comparatively modest extensions at Bumside would remove the need for a new school; and other schools should not be adversely affected.

The Bumside High School Board of Governors has agreed to this course should the need be established; but its reluctance has been made plain. Indeed the board has said it will accept 1200 pupils only if senior positions are adjusted to allow more non-teaching time for administration and tutoring services. A more comprehensive reorganisation would be required, the board says, if Bumside were to grow to 1600 pupils, a suggestion not yet closely examined.

The reservations about recommending a roll of even 1200 no doubt spring from the general feeling that a desirable intimacy between teachers and pupils is more easily preserved in compact classes and departments. The optimum roll for a high school was once considered to be about 700 or 800. This is the number for which most of the newer Christchurch high schools were planned. Most of these schools are now approaching if they have not already passed the 1000 mark. The days when the principal knew most of his pupils have apparently gone.

Another point has not yet been publicly discussed in the debates this year on high school development in Christchurch: the birth-rate is falling and all indications are that it will continue to fall. In a few years the many new primary schools, built to accommodate rising numbers since the Second World War, may have empty rooms. The intake at high schools may be expected to decline in the 19705. The Secondary Schools’ Council may not need to build more high schools. Existing schools, with accommodation for 1000 pupils, may be adequate. The need to increase Burnside’s roll to 1200 may be only temporary. The council’s special committee will no doubt consider these issues before advising the council on a recommodation to the Education Department.