TOO MANY BOARDS

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 27, 1 February 1924, Page 8

TOO MANY BOARDS

ADMINISTERING SCHOOLS

REDUCTIONS IN SMALLER

TOWNS

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE

;minister.

Important proposals for reducing the number of educational authorities in country districts were announced by the Minister of; Education, the Hon. C. J. Parr, when replying 'to a deputation from the New Plymouth Technical School Board, which'waited on him yesterday to bring under the Minister's notice the question of staffing arrangements. It was stated that the school could not carry on its course with the staff allowed by the present regulations.

The Minister, said that he would not press the board to reduce its present staff, as he desired them to carry- on satisfactorily. Mr. Parr said that the board's diihculties. would be cleared up if the high schools at New Plymouth and .the Technical School were unified and amalgamated under one authority. : In the smaller; towns; said the Minister, there was far too much overlap?rng, both of work and administratiou. t was an unnecessary expense, indeed an absurdity,. that' in the smaller towns there should be two or three different boards or local educational authorities,, each carrying, out post-primary education. In towns like New Plymouth, Hamilton, Timarn, and other places, there should bean amalgamation of administration, and of the schools. From an educational.point of view such a union would be most ■ advantageous. Boys unsuitable for the academic high school course could then be easily transferred to the other branch,, the technical, for a more practical industrial course of education, and, vice versa, if a boy going to the technical school showed marked literary ability he could be transferred to the high school. There was a tendency on the part of some people to'look upon the technical school as an inferior institution, but. in the Minister's opinion, there should be no line drawn between the technical sph'ool and the .high school. The technical school was just as 'valuable, if not more valuable, to the community than an ordinary high school; With one control, and regarded as one institution giving different couses, diversified types of education to suit varying capacities of children could be given, and such a unified institution should do infinitely better work for the community than two seP,arate independent schools. Ihe Director of. Education (Mr. J.Caughley) who w.as r present, agreed with the Minister entirely. .Ini conclusion, the Minister announced that the Department would early this year attempt 'to bring about this union ,ot admimstrative bodies' in the small centres, and said' that this month Mr. Caughley would visit the.different towns and discuss the, matter with the various w -mVi 6u hpsed -thafi *c 'boards would take a broad and enlightened view of the matter and consider the interests ot the whole'community,, r.ather than of any part,cular institution,. High school tfon C\r MaUd * te^ nical *cho°l eduction .should not be run in water-tieht compartments,, but: should intermingle' minion" D6fit °f theV°^h .of tS 3§o! Te|SSg|^S^^ he believed that the.re would be no od ject,on m New Plvriionth to the Minister's sWstion; whi'ih 'wouTd certe n LSd'to f d^ CUltieS.° f hi 3 boarTw th