Closing Of Maori College Postponed

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32349, 15 July 1970, Page 22

Closing Of Maori College Postponed

The decision to close the Te Wai Pounamu Maori Girls’ College at the end of the year has been postponed until the end of August because of the activity among local Maori people to try to find the girls and the money to have a full school by the beginning of next year.

The chairman of the school board, the Dean of Christchurch (the Very Rev. M. L. Underhill), said that he thought that he was right in saying that the local Maoris felt that there was something more at stake than the preservation of a Maori girls’ school.

“Te Wai Pounamu represents something in Maori life in the South Island that is firm and established and important,” he said. "Its loss would be desolating.”

Dean Underhill said that for the last few years teaching at the school had finished and the girls had been attending the Avonside Girls’ High School Last month a letter was sent to all the parents to say that it was proposed to close the school at the end of the year. The reason was that there were not enough girls—only 25 girls for 50 places this year. The education authorities and the Maori Affairs Department could see no future for the school for two reasons. Great numbers Of Maoris were moving into the cities where high schools were available, and many additional high schools were being built in rural areas. “Consequently, there is less need for high school boarding establishments for Maori

girl»,” he said. “These facts are true, but statistics show most clearly and painfully that Maori children have very poor academic successes in the government schools. “Schools such as Te Wai Pounamu exist to encourage a higher proportion of Maori children to get through school certificate and university entrance and find their places in the university. “Our racial ratios are wrong—too few Maoris at university, too many in prison, too many in unskilled jobs, too few in the professions, a frightening picture of first and second-class citizens," he said. Dean Underhill said that he thought the real reason why not enough girls were at Te Wai Pounamu was that the parents were finding it harder and harder to pay the fees. At present the fees were $llO a term, but with additional costs it amounted to about $4OO a year. He said that he believed the answer was to get every place at Te Wai Pounamu endowed, or partially endowed and only the most promising girls accepted. Possibly parishes, business girls and educational trusts could help with this suggestion. “We can find big sums for our pakeha schools, can’t we help the Maori schools?” he said.