LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33514, 20 April 1974, Page 14

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

(1) Letters to be considered for this column must not exceed 150 words. They should be on only one side of the paper; preferably typewritten. otherwise clearly written in ink; and ample margins and space between lines should be left for convenience in sub-editing. 2) A legible signature and full address — not a P.O. Box number — are required whether these are to be printed or not i3i The correspondent must say whether the letter has been or is to be submitted eisew here. ■4> The editor cannot return or keep any letter not accepted for printing; nor does he; undertake to acknowledge or enter into correspondence concerning letters, although an acknowledgement will be made where this seems to be necessarv or helpful. (5) As a general rule, correspondence on news items in otiier publications or carried on radio and television, is not acceptable.

Pon t be Fuelish.—Et tu, Brute. Voter.—To the Government. Patrick Neary.—Keep to the subject. Bernard Newnham. — Sources, please. Cecil.—The Government, is seeking additional markets. Arthur Lush.—Planning is still; in the early stages. Concerned.—Appreciated, but unlikely to help. Mixed-up Sourpusses.—Ms does not Imply unmarried New Resident.—Probably an R.N.Z.A.F. aircraft on a training flight. Citizen.—Those tn need of -housing are definitely not in your classification. G. J. ten Hove.—Make your suggestion to the City Engineer. Mitzi.—Thanks, but it is doubtful whether every cot would accept the charge. I Nearly Awash and Still Hopefully Keeping On.—The Drainage Board is considering all these questions. ■lt Grows as it Goes.—What alternatlve source of Government revenue would you suggest?

Technical Institute Sir,—Does an administrative end justify its means? The action of i the chairman and director of ithe Technical Institute (“The ;Press”, April 11) in submitting to the institute council what is a non-report, shows

a common dilemma of administrators. It appears that the chairman and director are involved in triangular negotiations with the Department of Education and “X” about additional accommodation. If the identity; of "X" is confidential, then; 'surely it is wiser to have no! ’announcement about negotia-l itions instead of a non-report; which does not state —i even to the institute council’ !— who “X” is. The implication is that whatever the ’outcome, the other members lof the council appear to be I either rubber stamps to the 'actions of the chairman and director or alternatively the council conducts its business as a form of applied democracy. It is regrettable that ■an educational administration can appear to set ■such a public 'example.—Yours, etc.. PAN. April 19, 1974.

City council fees j Sir, —Last year I paid $4 for; the annual licence fee for my! small block of three flats.; This year I have to pav $25. ; Will the Mayor please ex-' plain what additional services; the council is providing, to; warrant this huge increase?! Also, how does such a savage increase accord with the Government policy to restrain prices as a check to galloping inflation.—Yours, etc., DIGGER. April I, 1974.

[The Town Clerk (Mr J. H.i Grev) replies: "The licence! fees’ for apartment, buildings, and boarding houses were ini-• tially set in 1969 before it] was possible to assess the’ cost of administering this new requirement of the Municipal Corporations Act. Last year, an examination of various types of licence fees was made, when it was shown that those relating to apartment buildings and boardinghouses were substantially below the cost of administering ■the legislation concerned, and: la considerable amount was! I being met out of the general; Irate. As a matter of policy,; it is considered that such ac-( itivities should be self-sup-I porting. The council, therefore, in December, 1973, adopted a new scale of fees I which would recover the cost I involved, to be operative I from April 1. 1974. Owners lof properties concerned were advised of the new fees when . reminding them that their i licence was due for re- ! newal.”]

j Nuclear power : Sir, —Kipling Hedley puts forward Ze idea that we 'should return to the use of ; manpower rather than manufactured power. J. A. Harvie !did likewise some years ago; [in your columns under some; ;such title as "The Post-] [industrial Era.” It is entirely: lin opposition to current ten-1 jdencies but we may be! forced into it if manufactured (power becomes unable to I meet al) our “needs.” And ■we all have to be occupied lor we get bored and find outlets for our innate abilities (and ingenuity which tend to ’be anti-social. A labour-in-tensive economy has many 'attractions and would give far more satisfaction once we got used to it again, especially as the technology of the machine era could continue to be used for the more unpleasant tasks. If an institute or some such body (were created to study the possibility, it might just be; realisable if concrete propo-i sals were forthcoming.— . Yours, etc., ; G. C. SL'GGATE. | April 18. 1974.

Reading skills Sir.—An association has: been formed —F.I.R.S.T. —of! people vitally interested in; the very subject Gordon Tait, has been so specific about.: iNow the reprint of Stewart Froome’s article has spelled

it out. You. sir, have given: your support in editorials to! the idea that we must return; to the basic skills. A meet-1 ing of F.I.R.S.T. has been ad-1 vertised to take place on! April 20, in the Richmond! i Secretarial College at 127 i Worcester Street, at 7.30 p.m. llf parents are vitally interested in their children’s development, surely they will ; support such a movement by ! their attendance. — Yours, etc., V. H. ANDERSON, Public Relations Officer. April 19. 1974. Overseas aid Sir,—Over the past: few months we have been regaled with gloating stories portraying the British as rather poor relations. Therefore it comes as a surprise to discover that since 1969 the British Government has contributed in excess of one per cent of G.N.P. towards overseas aid, while affluent New Zealand only decided to attempt to raise its contribution to such agencies to 0.7 per cent by 1975-76, with jits contribution for 1973-74 being only 0.36 per cent. I understand that Australia iwith four times our popujlation gives eight times the laid to underdeveloped countries. There is an old maxim popular among the gambling fraternity to the effect, “put your money where your mouth is.”—Yours, etc., BERNARD NEWNHAM. Nelson. April 18, 1974.

School rolls Sir—ln discussion little evidence on size of schools has yet been presented, although intuitive thoughts from many experienced teachers should not be dismissed as emotive outcries. In the 1960 s a thorough and detailed study was made for three years by highly qualified researchers on a number of high schools in the United States, to determine the ef- [ fects on pupils of the size of [school they attended. From [the results it was shown I clearly that the ideal was be- [ tween 350 and 500 pupils. I New Zealand schools cannot .be equated exactly with i schools in the United States because of: (a) number of years pupils are at secondary school; t'b) need for viable senior forms; (c) increased breadth of course. It appears that rolls here would be ideal between 600 and 800; certainly not 100 or 2000 as suggested by your correspondent “D.S.” The number 850 may not be the magic number; it is certainly not larger.— Yours, etc., R. P. KINGSTON. April 18, 1974.

Education debate Sir, —As I expected the working party on improving learning and teaching within the Educational Development Conference has recommended that more in-service courses be provided for teachers. It also decided that the concept of the iso-

ilated teacher teaching a [single subject has changed and that “new” ways are reIquired. This working party [consists of 23 persons of Iwhich no fewer than 20 are either professors or senior [lecturers of education, principals of either kindergarItens or teachers’ colleges, [chairmen of Federated Farmers, etc lecturers in visual arts (whatever that is) etc. i Other innovations include project methods, “integrated topic approaches”, or, “broad fields of study centred around social issues.” I wonder if these said persons wouk care to demonstrate thi.. stuff with a typical Form IV, not for one bright afternoon but for a year? This could be their “refresher” course. Have I any takers please? I would enjoy watching.—Yours, etc., CLASSROOM TEACHER OF 20 YEARS. April 17, 1974.