Rigger Text-Book Grants Called For

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31653, 13 April 1968, Page 18

Rigger Text-Book Grants Called For

Canterbury School Committees’ Association members were urged by their president (Mr S. M. Millar) to support the move for increased text-book grants for primary, contributing, and intermediate schools. Devaluation had caused substantial rises in book prices but, even before that, the book grant (unchanged since July, 1958) had been inadequate, Mr Millar said. The basis of the Education Department’s grant was 38 cents for each primary pupil, 30 cents in contributing schools, and 63 cents in intermediate schools. “Committees have complained about headmasters wanting grants from locally-

raised funds to complete class sets of text-books,” said Mr Millar.

“They have heard complaints from secondary schools that a grant of $11.22 for each third-form pupil is inadequate. They had also read the statement of Miss B. Evans, retiring North Canterbury president of the New Zealand Educational Institute.”

Increases for the three types of school served by committees were needed urgently to match present prices and come within working distance of secondary grants. Mr Millar made his statement when an association meeting called last evening was abandoned because only about half a dozen delegates arrived.

An address by the new Dominion president (Mr C. Scott, of Timaru) was also postponed through lack of a quorum. The rough weather was blamed.