ALARM ABOUT CUT

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 81, 2 October 1931, Page 3

ALARM ABOUT CUT

HEADMASTER'S EEVIEW

LOWER HUTT DISCUSSION

Under the auspices of the Hutt Valley High School Parents' Association, upwards of^lOO persons attended a meetiug in the Hutt Valley. High School last''evening to protest against any propdsul to curtail post-primary education. Mr. J. R: Middletou, president of' the association, occupied the chair. Among those present wero Mr. J. C. Burns, representing the Primary Schools' Headmasters' Association, and Mr. A. ,M'Fadyen, principal of the Pctone Technical High School.

Mr. 11. P. Kidson, principal of the High School, said the meeting had been called- because of a persistent newspaper campaign against the high expenditure on education in New Zealand, and particularly against post-primary education costs. He had a good idea of how the campaign had been engineered —for if had quite definitely been subtly engineered. During the; last fortnight as straight a tip as possible had been given that' the Education Vote was endangered, and that the-system of free places in secondary schools was menaced. Though those concerned were more cheery since the Minister had said he did not intend to abolish free places, it was true that the real danger was not past, and it still remained true that a drastic cut was threatened. THOSE WHO FAVOUR REDUCTION. There were three types of persons who thought the Education Vote should be reduced: the portion- of the general public which without thought said that because the Vote was the largest made it should . therefore be reduced; a class, represented by Sir Harold Beauchamp, which adopted the selfish attitude that, education should be paid for by the individual,'and who themselves were willing to pay, for a very often inferior typo of'education,,for their own children; and a third class' % who probably sincerely thought there was not sufficient return for the money spent. This class talked of over-educa-tion—a thing which could not be. Only one half of the pupils from primary schools,: said Mr. Kidson, went on to post-primary classes. A great number of children, probably 20 or 25 per cent., passed out of the primary schools at the age of 12. England, with all its difficulties, had recently got a Bill through the House of Commons raising the age of leaving school to 15. !".' There was a class which said our education was -toes academic Mr. Masters-had said great numbers left our secondary schools who got no bonefit. But this class probably represented only 10 per cent., continued Mr. Kidson. These probably .should have had a technical' education, which- would have cost more. It was necessary, however, to guard against premature vocational training. Denmark, which was often quoted for the value of its education, had gained^ that distinction, not because of specialised training, but because of the general culture of its people. ~.,....- . -.: , . WHERE THE CHILDREN GO. - Another- class decried. secondary .education because, they said, it unfitted boys and girls for ordinary, work, and made them seek "black-coated" occupations.., The. reply to that was the record :,ofthe class of work to which boys leaving;: secondary : schools ■■ -went into; 3 per cent, went; into the university colleges; 4 <per;cent. into teaching colleges; 8 per centi.into Government and local body employ, 5 per cent, into 'banks, 2' per cent, into the legal profession, 13 per cent, into commerce, 4 per. cent, into engineering, etc., 12 per,.«cent.' into various : trades, 14 per cent, into shops ;an(f warehouses, 19 [per. cen,t. into farming, 5 per cent, into home occupations, 3 per cent, into other occupations, and 8 per cent, not known. The great need1 was a good geneva 4 education. • . j About £4,000,000 was spent on education, and already economies to the amount of £350,000 had been made..The rumours' of further cuts, Mr. Kidson said, ranged from £1,000,000 downwards —but that; was merely talk. He, however, believed that a cut of £500,000 was contemplated. Nothing, much could be taken from administration charges, which were about £100,000. The^easiest way would be a salary^ cut, which the Government would have great reluctance to make.. A 5 per cent.lsalary cut would represent £125,000. ' / The other way, said Mr. Kidson, would be to curtail some of the educational facilities. There was no chance of doing this in the primary schools, and therefore the only region for curtailment was in post-primary education.. The first suggestion of putting overboard the principle of free places had been denied by Mr. Masters, and therefore the only way left was to cut down the number of pupils going from primary to post-primary schools. The cost of the post-primary education per pupil ( was £24 7s. There were 16,000 pupils'in secondary schools and 7000 in Technical High Schools. To cut out one-third of these would save from £100,000 to £125,000,, but this would mean denying 7000 or 8000 children the right to. further education, and these would rapidly degenerate, for it was true that " Satan still finds mischief for idle hands .to do." .'...-. THE INTEREST OF TEACHERS. Teachers had been charged with "self interest in, the matter, but it could be proved that the teachers had always sought the interests of the childreni 'The question was how to decide which children should be deprived. The imposition of a more rigid test was proposed. This would throw a greater burden on primary school teachers, and besides there, were many children who could not pass a test, but who were well worthy of further education. Mr. Kidson appealed to the parents to take up the question wholeheartedly for the sake of the children. ; MR. WASH'S STATEMENT. Mr. W. Nash, M.P., said the problem of education was -. the greatest the country was called upon to solve.' He believed an attempt would bo made to reduce tho Education Vote by £500,000 and that Mr. Masters was out to find ways and means for doing this; Mr. Kidson : had spoken of a saving of £125,000 by cutting out one-third, of those coming, forward to post-primary schools, but would this saving be effected f The overhead - charges would be tho same," and the number of teachers and children thrown on the unemployment market would be heavily increased. It would cost 10s per week to maintain each boy, and probably it would cost £200,000 to savo the £125,000. .■.'■-.■■. The amount spent in education in 1914) said Mr. _ Nash, was £1,388,242, and had this1 increased in proportion the" cost in 1930 would have been £2,869,747. Actually, the 1930 expenditure was £'3,627,402, an increase of £730,842. This increase was more than made up by the payment to 2445 more and better teachers, which cost £■785,749. The average increase in pay to primary teachers since 1914.was £16. This was really not enough. Strangely, however, the average pay for secondary teachers had dropped from. £241 to £237. Teachers as a

wholo were only 8 per cent, better off than in 1914, though in 1914 there had been 1600 uncertiflcated teachers, ana now there were fewer than 100. me proposal to decreaso the number or pupils in secondary schools was grossly unfair, and was bad economy. There were more leaving the primary schools, and therefore there should be an increase in the post primary facilities, and not a decrease. MORE TAXATION? If the people desired to keep up the Education Vote, said Mr. Nash, they should be prepared to say to the Government that they were willing to be taxed; but tho taxation must be in proportion to ability to pay. The Budget should certainly not be balanced at the cost of education. It would pay the country handsomely to give every citizen, both young and old, a full education. A matter for consideration was tho fact that there wore SO capable teachers out of work-in tho Wellington district, and 600 or 700' in the Dominion; and any cut in tho educational facilities would only throw more out of employment. ' In answer to a question from Mr. Spurr, Mr. Kidson said the relative costs of education in New Zealand and in London were: Primary £10 15s and £16 lls 4d respectively, and post primary £24 7s and £26 respectively. A RESOLUTION OF PROTEST. After further discussion the following motion was proposed by the chairman, and seconded by Mr. Spurr :— "That.this meeting of parents views with concern any cut in the Education Vote that will in. any way impair the efficiency of the schools'of the country or curtail the opportunities the children have of a sound primary and post-prim- ! ary education." Mr. A. J. Gearing said he did not consider the motion strong enough, and on his suggestion, seconded,by Bey. J. Loan, the words "and protests against" were inserted in the motion after the word "concern." j Mr. G. L. . Gipsen said he could not vote for a motion of protest. He was I of the opinion that too much was spent on education for.what the country got out of it. It was no good saying "maintain our ' Education Vote" if there was no money available. Education would be more valued and better use made of it if the individual paid for it. The entrance; examinations should bo made stiffer.

After further discussion the amended motion was carried' withbut dissent.

The meeting requested Mr;-Nash-to watch the interests of education when the matter came'before the House, and also to interview the Minister.