THE EDUCATION SYSTEM

Evening Post, Volume XCV, Issue 14, 16 January 1918, Page 8

THE EDUCATION SYSTEM

BOARDS AND COMMITTEES

I 10 IHE EDITDR. Sir,—An interesting letter from the pen of Mr. F. L. Combs appeared in a recent issue of your paper, dealing with the education system in general, and the functions of Education Boards in particular. Mr. Combs has opened a question that deserves very serious attention at the present juncture. It is a matter of common knowledge that in recent years the functions of Education Boards have been whittled away to such an extent that these bodies cannot now be regai-ded as other than glorified school committees. No inducement is offered to men of constructive ability to place their services at the disposal of the public. Fifteen or twenty years ago a policy of centralisation was commenced. Education Boards were required to consult tho Education. Department before any expenditure was made upon school buildings, or in the purchase of school sites. A board might resolve' that one course of action was necessary, and the Department would decide upon quite another. Then it was decided that members of Education Boards, who were usually men of business) could not ho trusted to debit the country with their reasonable tea veiling expenses. They were required to sign a sort of affidavit before a Justice of the Peaco that their railway and hotel expenses were actually incurred. A little later the control of tho inspectorate was withdrawn from boards and handed over to the Department. At the present time, practically all that remains' for boards to do is to endorse the recommendations of the inspectors regarding the transfer and appointment of teachers, pass salaries for payment, and make small grants for patnting, repairs to windows and chimneys, and such like, and to "consult" committees in regard to appointments. Tho making of grants is ■.usually the work of a small city committee, and all that country members have to do is to say "Aye" when the recommendations come before them. The "consultation" of j school committees in regard to teacher appointments is farcical, because the committees have no inner knowledge 'of the attainments of the various applicants, and their power of selection is restricted. So far as the election of Education Boards is considered, it has become something of a travesty. The representation under a recent Act is also absurd. For instance, the Hutt district, with a population of probably not more than 15,000, is entitled to four members, while the scattered Wairarapa district, with more than double the population and a far larger number of schools, is entitled to only two. The whole system of administration requires reforming. The Education Boards, as at pre3rit constituted, might conveniently be abolished. Tho. school districts should be enlarged, and school committees appointed with increased powers to perform the work at present delegated to Education Boards. The advantage of this arrangement would be that there would be something in tho nature of community of interest, and a co-ordination between the administrative body and the central Department. At the present time both committees and boards are dissatisfied, because neither has responsibility to speak of, and one is continually clashing with the other. If the Minister of Education were to bring down an amendment of the Act abolishing Education Boards entirely, and increasing the powers of school committees, he would deserve well of the community. —I am, etc., ARTHUR H. VILE. i Masterton, 15th January.