TOO MANY CHANGES

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 110, 11 May 1935, Page 10

TOO MANY CHANGES

'EDUCATION -PORTFOLIO

HQ .N. S. C. SMITH WELCOMED

* 'Almost as regularly as the change of seasons comes a change in the port-. fei.lio of Education, and we welcome tbj i Hon. S. G. Smith to the position," sis ites. the annual report of the Welln lgton School Committees and Educi itional Federation. "His long experia ice oh the Taranaki committees and If ducation Board should fit him for the Ij igh office he has been called upon to i ill. Already the federation has met ifaim by deputation, and we appreciate ! his courtesy and sympathy. We hope ;' that when he is approached in the future we will be able to receive a little more than these' very kindly gestures. Committees cannot keep schools clean and warm on sympathy only, and this fact has. been impressed on the Government for so long that one wonders when and where the powers that be will awaken to the vital requirements of primary education in this Dominion. We look forward to the future with ' expectations of things to be done by Mr. Smith. May we not look in vain. His responsibility is great, and we want to share it with him. What is required is a definite change in policy, in regard to school administration (this does not mean staffing, etc.) by the committees.' More power should be given to the committees, with greater financial allowance to permit committees to administer the affairs of the school without the tiring necessity of appealing to the boards for every little piece of work that "requires doing." FIVE-YEAR-OLDS. The report states that despite a prolonged and earnest effort by the federation and all other kindred organisations, including the Teachers' Institute,'the Government cannot be induced to alter the present position in relation to the exclusion of the five-year-olds. "We are still awaiting the opportunity of being heard by the Education Committee of the House in reference $o the 23,000 signatures to the petitions dealing with this question. The. long delay in hearing this evidence is ample proof of the necessity of removing from the political atmosphere matters dealing with such an important subject as education. Far too long has eduoation been the plaything of the Parliamentary machine, and the time is opportune to administer education by an educational council removed from political influence and interference." The report places on record appreciation of the action of the Government and the Hon. R. Masters in making additional grants of £4000 and £3000 respectively per annum towards the capitation grants to the committees and to the maintenance grants to the boards. "At the same time," it states, "it is a pity, that the Wellington Education Board did not distribute the grant in the spirit in which it was applied for and granted by the Minister, namely, the helping, of necessitous committees. The board's action in paying the grant out in a flat rate of about 5d per scholar may have been the easiest way out, but it was the most unsatisfactory method to adopt. As the Minister agreed that this should be an annual grant, we hope that the board will reconsider its method of distribution in the coming year." ,