Education Board criticised

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33384, 16 November 1973, Page 8

Education Board criticised

The suggestion that the Canterbury Education Board might want to take over the control of secondary schools in the Canterbury district “shocked” him, said Mr W. J. Fletcher, a senior member of the executive of the Post-Primary Teachers’ Association last evening.

Mr Fletcher was commenting on a recent television programme which outlined the functions of the Canterbury Education Board. “The board appeared in a very poor light—and as a public relations exercise it was a disaster,” Mr Fletcher said. He criticised the present system of franchise used by the board and the practice of holding large parts of its

monthly meetings In private. “The present system of board meetings restricts membership to those with the leisure time to attend,” Mr Fletcher said. “The board seems to be out of touch with what is going on in the schools, and is lacking in progressive, vigorous policies,” he said. Canterbury secondary [ schools, with their individual school boards supported by the Christchurch Secondary Schools’ Council, had a much more effective form of control, which closely involved the communities to which the schools belonged. “Secondary-school teachers in this district would op-1 pose any attempt, as sug-; gested in the television pro- ? gramme, to do away with! this local involvement,' which they value highly,” said Mr Fletcher. The general manager of the Canterbury Education Board (Mr D. Wilson) said last evening that his personal view was that the present system of educational administration was too fragmented. “What I suggested was a streamlining of control to take in all areas from pre-school to tertiary levels,” he said. “This is the only effective land economical way of administering education, in the long term,” Mr Wilson said.