NO ROOM FREE PLACE GIRLS SHUT OUT

Evening Post, Volume LXXXV, Issue 48, 26 February 1913, Page 3

NO ROOM FREE PLACE GIRLS SHUT OUT

IS THERE DISCRIMINATION MADE OPINIONS OF THE EDUCATION , BOARD. Has there been any discrimination made between city schools with regard j to the admission of free place girls to j the Girls' College? The question , lias been raised before this, and the chair* man of the Board of College Governors (Mr. A. de B. Brandon) has expressed an opinion to the contrary, Still, there have been complaints from dis> appointed parents, and the headmaster of the South Wellington School (Mr. G. Flux), in a letter considered by the Education Board yesterday, adds to the list. The letter is as follows: — "On behalf of several parents of children who obtained proficiency certi' ficatea at the 1912 examinfttkm of this school, I desite to bring to the notice j of the board what* appears to them, and j to me, an unfair discrimination i between j pupils of different schools niado by the authorities xA the Girls' College. When our girls applied for admission they Were told they could not be accepted ; because they had not applied for admission on or before the 18th December, 1912. Now, we have been advised, for reasons which are probably known to the board, not to make known the results of the examinations until' the day of breaking' up (last year, the_ 19th December), pO that it was impossible for our girls to apply on or , before the 18th December. I am informed on good authority that, as soon as tlie examination was over, some" schools gave out the results ana immediately made application to the Girls' College for the admission of • their pupils, and that these applicants were admitted on the reopening of the college, while our girls Were penalised as a result of vny following out the sug' gestion of my superior officers. I was totally unaware that ahy date v had been fixed on or before which application should be made, and, as far as I can ascertain, no such date was advertised. If there is not room to accommodate all the proficiency certificate-holders applying, then, in fairness, the places should be shared pro rata. As it is, practically all the pupils of some schools have been taken while all those of other schools have been refused— tho latter for no fault of their own. jSpme of our girls have been waiting aWut in the hope of being eventually admitted. Of these, some are at home still, while a few have returned to us. Those on whose behalf I write ask your board to be good enough to use its good offices to prevent such discrimination in the future, even though it may be too late to mend matters this year." Mr. J. G. W. Aitken wanted to know what principles governed tho admission of l'ree<place pupils to the Girls' Col« lege. Other schools, were complaining, and the suggestion was that some girls got word of having passed nntch earlier than others. "How many girls were excluded?" asked Mr v . A. W. Hogg. Ml. Aitken: Quite a number. Mr. Hogg : This is a very serious matter. It was explained by the Chairman (Mr. R. Lee) that scholarship holde¥9 l had precedence over free-place pupils. 1 The Board of Governors had restricted

tho number to be admitted, an they Mfrera Rfi'aid of tho college being ovorerowgtd. Miss .M'Le&n had been instructed noi to lake any more pupils. ' I Mr. Aitken wanted lo know whyoiift school which did not know as early as another should be shut out. „', In reply to this, and tomilar comment by Mr, Hogg-, the Chairman pointed»ont that there was no exclusion. The 1!&ch« nicftl and Normal Schools were open to these free-place holders. There wa* no reason ' why the Normal School should, not be as much taken advantage 1 " of. There ,weve vacancies in thew> ( 4avo school*, but parent* , wove complaining not because their children could ,1101; get higher' education, but because they could nob get them educated in tho way they wanted. Mr. T. R. Fleming (Chief Inspector) Aaid that 18th December seemed to hay* been the date fixed for admission, but it was unknown to the inspectors. As inspectorA they examined on a certain date, arid this they could ftot alter because of a' certain date fisted' by the Girle 1 College', for tho admi&sitm of pupils. It. had certainly been eai<) that there wafc ona school in the city which had heard ih&b 18th December was positively to be.the closing date, and so the girls went down in a body and entered their applications. They thus shut. c*t others from Te Aro, Newtown, Clyck-qnay, and South Wel> tihglon. "Is this th© correct system?" etked Mr. Aitken. I Mr. Fleming replied that the method I followed the Seguktionß of the Department. Neither Misfc M'Lean nor; the Board of Governors has anything to do with it. An alternative was suggested by 1 Mr. Hogg«--extending the accommodation, of the Girls' College. This ought to bo seriously considered by the board. The Chairman! t question whether the number of free places should not be more limited, and only those paseed on to secondary education who are well able to taksi it. It W9A eUtedl by the ' Chief .Inspector that the inspectorate proposed to harden the proficiency examinations. The question was referred *t& the •Fihaflco Committee.