NAVY LEAGUE IN SCHOOLS

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 281, 22 August 1940, Page 11

NAVY LEAGUE IN SCHOOLS

Right Of Entry For One Hour A Year Sought

BOARD MAINTAINS ITS PREVIOUS. ATTITUDE

By six votes io five, a motion “that the Navy League be allowed to address all schools under the board’s jurisdiction, in school hours, through its appointed officer (name to be notified to the board) ; the time occupied to be not more than one hour a year; the date and arrangements to be made with the respective school committees and headmasters,” was defeated at yesterday’s meeting of the Wellington Education Board. Letters were read from the Wadestowu School Committee “deploring the action of the board in refusing the admission of Navy League speakers to schools in school hours,” and from the Wellington School Committees and Educational Federation requesting the board to allow the Navy League to give a half-hour lecture in schools, once a year in school hours, the nature of the lecture to be decided by the headmaster.

Importance of Navy.

New Zealand was sea-girt—the sea was the very life of the Dominion, said the mover of the motion, Mr. T. K. Moody. New Zealand was dependent on the British Navy and on the Mercantile Marine for protection and the continuance of life. For some years past the number of ships in New Zealand and working the coast had been falling, with the result that the outlet for many boys in the Merchant Marine had diminished. That, however, would no doubt be rectified after the war. Also, the bulk of the fishing in the Dominion was done by other than New Zealanders.

The Auckland, Canterbury, Wanganui, Nelson, and Southland boards allowed the Navy League to address the children iu school hours, and it was also the wish of the Wellington Federation of School Committees. The secretary of the Wellington branch of the league was a retired headmaster, and, on that basis, was well qualified to address the children. Seconding the motion, Colonel T. W. McDonald said he had consistently supported the entry of the Navy League into schools for some considerable time and he was delighted that Mr. Moody, a newcomer to the board, should have brought forward such a motion. There had been a time when the board had decided not to have the Navy League in the schools. . That had been because of the League of Nations, but it had been found that the League of Nations was a myth. The board had been asked by the school committees to pass the motion, and it was their bounden duty to give the greatest possible weight to that representation. “If we do not give that support to the British Navy that it desires and deserves,” added Colonel McDonald, “then we shall be failing in our duty as representatives of a body of considerable importance. It is our business to educate the people to a right psychology and that today is war to the knife—war and nothing else but war.” Centres of Propaganda.

Mr. L. J. McDonald said that the board had previously decided not to admit the Navy League in school hours. The reason was that a majority of the board was of the opinion that it was not in the best interests of the children that the schools should be used as propaganda centres, whether the propaganda be good or bad. The decision was not the result of any hostility to the Navy League, the value of whose work the board fully appreciated. The consideration was purely one of educational policy. If they admitted the Navy League, how could they deny the claims of the League of Nations, the Army, the Air Force, and other equally worthy interests? “It seems to me,” added Mr. McDonald, “that it comes back to a matter of balance. I feel that at all costs we should keep the partisan atmosphere out of our schools.” The chairman, Mr. W. V. Dyer, said it was not right to confuse the idea of not wanting the Navy League in the schools in school hours, with not having feelings 7 of admiration for _ the Navy. There appeared to be considerable misapprehension about the Navy League being shut out of schools. The league was in the schools and could address the children in the schools after school hours. The reason the Navy League had been excluded was that there had been repeated applications from all manner of people, many quite desirable, and it had been impossible to refuse them while the Navy League was admitted. Supporting the motion, Mr. C. H. W. Nicholls said that members seemed to be frightened that the even tenor of the teachers’ way would be disturbed. Colonel McDonald: That’s the whole thing. It’s, a teachers’ board. Mr. J. J. Clark advocated each application being treated on its merits. Mr. A. Donald said he was prepared to vote for the Navy League/ and that alone, as a war gesture. The motion was supported by Messrs. Moody,- Nicholls, Donald, Clark, and Colonel McDonald, and opposed by the chairman and Messrs. Henderson, Macaskill, Stonehouse, McDonald, and Nicol.

Mr. Moody moved a similar motion in respect of the St. John Ambulance Association, and this was defeated by seven votes to three after the chairman had outlined what was at present being done in the schools and the Training College, as well as refresher courses in St. John Ambulance work for teachers. Mr. Moody then withdrew a. third motion seeking to have addresses in the schools by members of the Red Cross Society.