Untitled

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 69, 14 December 1933, Page 8

At the instance of the school committees provision has been made in an Education Act Amendment Bill for these bodies to be elected biennially instead of annually. In so far as this will enable the committees to maintain better continuity of policy—which is the main reason advanced in support of the change—this should be all to the good. But how far it is possible for a school committee under existing conditions to have any policy at all it is difficult to see. The routine of a school committee’s work consists largely in seeing that the buildings in its charge are kept clean and in keeping the Education Board up to the mark in regard to painting, maintenance, and accommodation. The funds with which they are supplied are so meagre that the bare question of charing often presents budget problems. In the circumstances it is hardly surprising that the average annual school election rouses little interest unless there is-“a row on,” or that membership does not attract a large field of competitors. At the same time notice should be taken of the fact that the committees have now organised themselves as a national federation as a first step to raising their status and widening their responsibilities. That is so much to the good, for it may lead to a quickening of local interest in checking tendencies toward centralisation.