SCOTS COLLEGE

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 118, 14 November 1929, Page 10

SCOTS COLLEGE

SALE TO THE STATE

FOR TRAINING OF TEACHERS

A special commission of the Presbyterian Church Assembly sat in Wellington oil Tuesday to deal with an offer from the Education Department to purchase Scots College, the Presbyterian Church College for boys at Miramar. It is understood that the Department contemplates establishing a teachers' training college and hostel at Miramar, as well as provide a site for a primary school, and the property is admirably suited for such purposes.

At present the sending of trainees from the middle University district to Christchurch and Dunedin Training Colleges is costing the Education Department £1500 per annum owing to insufficiency of room at ,the Wellington Training College; and the Scots College property is the only adequate block of land left in the district entirely suitable for the purpose. As a result of its deliberations the commission decided to accept the offer made by the Department, and arrangements afo being made to vacate the college by the end of the present year. General regret will be felt at the closing of Scots College. During its thirteen' years' existence, the college has built a proud record both in the scholastic field and in sports. Its sale by the Presbyterian Church emphasises once more, the difficulties that face private schools in this country, in marked contrast with those of Australia, where church schools are in great demand, and are generally in a prosperous condition. The closing of Scots College will in no way affect Queen Margaret College, the Presbyterian Girls' College, adiinistered by the same Board of Governors. This college in Hobson street, under the principalship of Miss I. Wilson, M.A., is one of tho most popular girls' colleges, and the difficulty there is to find accommodation for the number of pupils desiring to enrol . THE BOARD'S NEGOTIATIONS. Commenting on the completion of negotiations for the acquirement of Scots College, the chairman of the Wellington Education Board (Mr. T. Eorsyth) explained that these negotiations had extended over a considerable period of time, and the board was naturally pleased that they had ended in the Government providing a grant sufficient for the acquirement of such a fine property of fifteen acres odd. The growth of the middle university district (i.e.,' Nelson, Marlborough, Taranaki, Wanganui, and Hawkes Bay, in addition to the Wellington district), which the Wellington Training College was designed to serve, had been so steady and substantial that the present college at Kelburn had proved quite insufficient to meet the growing . requirements >for the thorough training of teachers. Consequently, for several years drafts of students who should have .attended the Wellington Training College had been diverted to Christchurch, Otago, and Auckland for their course of professional training, at a very considerable cost to the State, besides to some extent separating them from their area of personal interest. As early as the period of the outbreak of war the board had under consideration the question of a larger establishment, but the financial burdens imposed by the war compelled the postponement of the question. As the lay-out of the Terrace Gaol site for the purpose of a school was approaching completion, the board considered with representatives of the Department the utilisation of a part of that site for a Training College, and" it certainly had the advantage of proximity to Victoria University College. On the other hand, the growth of the area served would continue, and it was primarily considered that in time a college established on that site would suffer from the same disability as the present ..had suffered from, namely, insufficiency of room for extension. In this respect, therefore, the purchase just about to be completed ha* much to commend it. The grounds were already well laid out, and were so spacious that in time a normal school which would serve also the adjacent area at present under development could be established without purchase of adjacent land. And although it was separated by some distance from Victoria University College, the completion of the new tunnel would very markedly reduce the objection under this head. Before negotiations were completed, the board consulted the Auckland authorities, who have a college separated by a. considerable distance from the, Auckland University College, and was informed that the great advantages of spacious grounds and a sufficient establishment. more than counterbalanced the slight disadvantage of, distance. It was to be added that in Wellington it was much more difficult to obtain an area sufficient for such a large establishment as the Training College will be, than in any of the other main centres of the Dominion. The Minister of Education and his officers had been extremely helpful an promoting the necessary inquiries and negotiations, and in finally arranging for the purchase.