SCHOOLS MERGER

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 285, 28 August 1931, Page 8

SCHOOLS MERGER

Secondary and Technical POLICY CRITICISED Principal Asks Questions “DANGEROUS POWER” Dominion Special Service. Dunedin, August 27. In a report presented to a taeeting of the Technical College managers, the principal, Mr. W. G. Aldridge, expressed strong opposition to the policy of amalgamating technical and secondary schools, and criticised the Minister of Education, the Hon. H. Atmore. “The Minister has stated that he does not wu.h to force amalgamation in the four centres,” said Mr. Aldridge. “Both be and the Director of Education have given a personal guarantee that there will be no submergence of technical interests, and there is every reason to believe that both Minister and director mean exactly what they say. Yet, the technical schools suspicions are not allayed. “First, the country is not in the confidence of the Minister or the Department. Why do the Minister and the Department seek such wide legislative powers, and afterwards disclaim the intention to employ them fully? Why does the Minister stul delay to publish the regulations that are to'govern the control of the amalgamated schools, although more than three months ago those 1 regulations were on his desk? These unanswered questions give much food for thought Value of Guaranteqs. z * “Secondly, of what value are the personal guarantees offered by the Minister and the director to the effect that technical education will not suffer by amalgamation?” asks Mr. Aldridge. “The Minister of Education's policy changes with tho Minister; the Director of Education s past service already entitles him to retire should he so wish. How, then, can either of them give guarantees of any permanent value? In any case, a town threatened with the loss of its technical school is entitled to something more than a personal guarantee. “Finally, the reason behind the policy of amalgamation has not been made clear,” Mr. Aldridge continued. “If it is efficienscy, on what grounds are secondary schools deemed more efficient that technical high schools? Is it economy? If so, may not the public be told what economies have resulted in Masterton and New Plymouth since these schools were amalgamated? Is it due to that loose kind of thinking which welcome® uniformity for its own sake, or is it a subtle means of reducing expenditure on secondary education by providing only one type of secondary school? Dangerous Power. "It is plain,” concludes Mr. Aldridge, “that the powers now possessed by the Minister and Department could actually make an end of technical schools. That power in itself la dangerous, and if there should be. as it is likely there will be, influential men to whom any departure from uniformity in education is disagreeable, it may not be long before that newer is called into play. In an open confl-ct with- such authority I am confident that public opinion would demand that the technical school, system be retained, but .n the face of an apparent attempt to remove it piecemeal, ia it not already time for a public protest?”