EDUCATION NEEDS

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 41, 20 February 1929, Page 10

EDUCATION NEEDS

QUESTIONS OF POLIC^

MINISTER WILL DECIDE ,

MR. ATMORE AND BOARD

, The Minister of Education (the Hon. H. Atmore) called on members. of th* Wellington Education Board at their meeting to-day, when he was warmly; welcomed by tho chairman, Mr. T. Fbrsyth, on behalf of his colleagues/

Mr. Atmore expressed pleasure at the welcome extended him by the board, with whom he did not anticipate any difficulty in working. Ho liked to look upon the educational movement as -a great co-operative movement, in which, everyone' Was engaged, and it^was from that t angle that he would view relations between them. Mr. Forsyth had mentioned the urgent necessity for additional primary schools, throughout .the-Dominion, aud had asked.if hejiiid any statement, to make, regarding juirior high schools. He was not ; prepared to mako any statement for another fortnight at least. It was a big decision to make, and ho wished to take tjtne and obtain full information. . Th^at was why ho was travelling, througt;'ih» Dominion, meeting boards, school coin? mittces, university councils, etc. He, was satisfied that akin to the' question of education was that Lot" land settlenien. The unemployment -existing ia New Zealand to-day was very largely due to the fact; that we had had. au. academic bias,to our education. employment was not a visitation of .the Almighty; it was plain : cause and effect, and nothing else. Academic bias ■ had put into tho minds of boys -and girls the idea that they should..' be dorks and nothing else, and by their drift to the towns we were making the structure top-heavy. Closer, land-'bc;;-tlement must be brought about, : and tliere was no possibility of ridding NewZealand of the curse of unemployment until this kernel of the question was faced. Building roads and such relief measures were mere palliatives. Education must have an agricultural bias. At present wo were combing the bright boys out of the country into the towns', but the bulk of the people must go on the land if we were..to do away with unemployment. ■' LARGER BUILDING VOTE. Tho Minister stressed the urgent;de« mand for a larger, building- vote.if or schools ,for the next year or <two,,,ja,nd also expressed the opinion that in-all questions of policy a decision should be reached by the Minister himself,-as tho representative of tho people, 'and not by any of the permanent officers. Ho said this without, any reflection, whatever on tho permanent officcr«-of his Department. A Minister was "not an expert, and he should hot, be. (Hear, hear.) An expert in an executive position was a danger. Experts were, paid to adviso the- representative of -the people. / \,,-. Asked by the chairman for a state--ment regarding a conference of education boards, hitherto not permitted by the Department, Mr. Atmore replied that he considered it a grave oversight that boards did not confer, and: that ho would see that such a conference was brought about. His statement was recoived with much pleasure by tlibse present. . ' .^ „ . ' •;. Mr. Hutchings (Manawatu) urged that in the cutting, up of the Central Development Farm at Levin the Government should retain portion for e'dueational purposes. Ho..would .like.:-to: see-school health camps permanently established there, ' also, vocational classes for training in agricultural work and possibly a domestic science school for the North Island. ,:

Mr. Atmore replied that Mr. W.E. Field, M.P., for the district, had also written to him on tho ( matter. Bogarding domestic science schools, he considered that the school at Otago was doing all that was required.for New Zealand, and as long as it continued to fulfil its functions properly h< would not bo a party to starting another school. Just because the two' Islands wero separated by a "little piece of .water" there was no reason for duplication in such matters. '