CAREERS ON THE LAND

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 75, 21 December 1929, Page 16

CAREERS ON THE LAND

WAIRARAPA PROPOSAL DEPUTATION TO MINISTER Masterton, December 20. “I yield to no one in ray enthusiasm for this proposal,” said the Minister of Education (Hon. 11. Atmore), when conferring to-day with members of the Wairarapa Secondary Education Board on a scheme to utilise the Penrose Farm for purposes of an agricultural school. In reply to the Board chairman (Mr. Jordan), the Minister said he could be relied upon to press on with the scheme. The Minister was accompanied by the Director of Education (Mr. T. B. Strong), Mr. G. R. Sykes. M.P., and Colonel T. W. McDonald, M.P., and Mr. W. Deavoll (private secretary). As Penrose Mr. Atmore was met by Mr. W. Perry and Mr. Jordan (chairman), and the following members of the Wirarapa Secondary Education Board, Mrs. T. R. Barrer, Messrs. A. D. Low, and E. J. Wright Other members of the party were Messrs. F. W. Martin (Principal of the Masterton Technical School), H. M. Boddington (secretary of the Secondary Education Board), and L. Southey, who has been manager of the lenrose Farm for over eight years. The Minister and his party spent an hour and a half in going, oyer the property, and in inspecting buildings. , After the inspection the chairman and the members of the Secondary Education Board resolved themselves into a deputation, and the Minister was. addressed on the subject of the utilisation of the farm for agricultural education, and on other educational needs of the district. Mr Jordan said the Board was very anxious to have the farm and its equipment utilised as soon as P os . s ‘Mo * s * centre of agricultural instruction for the Wairarapa secondary pupils. after having had two years in the agricultural class,.would derive great benefit if they were able to transfer at-the end of that time to a farm such as Penrose for further instruction.. A certain amount of expenditure was involved, but this must be made m order to meet the Agricultural needs of the community. Penrose Farm had for some time been profitproducing, and the development of this institution would provide the department with very valuable experience m its wider work of agricultural education. Referring to the technical school, Mr. Jordan said that it was built twenty years ago as a night school. bix ycais ago it was opened as a day school, and had since run successfully. Now the school had outgrown its accommodation. Application had been made to the Minister’s predecessor some IS months ago for new technical school aceoirfmodation. They were asked then not to press the matter ns the whole scheme was in the process of overhaul. He hoped that something would now be done to enable the staff of the technical school to get the best out of their work. At present some of the boys at the high school attended classes at the technical school, and he suggested that the inconvenience ot distance between the two schools could be overcome if the two schools stood on the same ground. Mr. Jordan went on to state that the previous Minister had said the Wairarapa was next on the list for a junior high school, and he asked that this claim should be kept in mind. His next request was that the board should not be asked to pay interest on the cost of the projected additions to the high school hostel until 1931, as additions would not be available probably until the beginning of the third terra next year. He went on to ask whether anything could be done by the Department to assist them to get an assembly hall for the High School and one for the Technical School.

The Minister replied that the importance of such a proposal as had been submitted to him could not be over-estimat-ed. The development of primary industry offered the only means of preventing recurring unemployment. That being so he was highly impressed with the importance of this proposal, and the Minister of Agriculture also was sympathetically inclined. The Minister enlarged at some length bn his view that farming should be held in much higher estimation in this country. The troubles of depression and unemployment arose when the growth in population outpaced increase in production of real wealth from the land, and the remedy must be to build up and stimulate primary industry. As to the new Technical School the Minister said he quite agrcc-l that a playground was necessary. The request for remission of interest charges needed careful consideration. The provision of assembly halls throughout New Zealand opened up a big avenue of expenditure. Other districts were raising money for this purpose, and then asking what subsidy the Department was prepared to give. In regard to buildings generally the Department had to give first preference to primary schools. The Minister and his party paid a visit to Masterton itself in the afternoon and inspected both the Technical and High Schools. Between these visits he paid a hurried call at the Lansdowne Primary School, where he was introduced to the assembled scholars by the chairman of the committee (Mr. H. H. Daniell). Mr. Atmore briefly addressed the pupils and presented prizes won during the year. The party left for Wellington after a visit to the Whatman Home.