MORE SCHOOLS: FEWER CHILDREN

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 107, 2 November 1938, Page 8

MORE SCHOOLS: FEWER CHILDREN

In the past one of the main problems facing Ministers of Education has been to build sufficient schools to provide the necessary educational facilities. To some extent the problem still exists, although in recent years the main concern has been to replace buildings which have outlived their usefulness, but, according to Mr. Fraser, the future may provide another and far more vital problem. "As I look around and see the splendid schools that we are building throughout New Zealand," said the Minister at Dunedin, "I sometimes wonder whether, in the future, there will be sufficient children to fill them." The words are timely and give expression to a feeling of apprehension which must be shared by all who have paid any attention to birth-rate statistics. If present trends continue it will be difficult for the people of New Zealand to escape the charge that they are not

accepting their full responsibilities as citizens of the Dominion and as partners in the British Commonwealth of Nations. It has been well said by the Prime Minister that the country's first line of defence must be an adequate population and that can best be brought about by an increase in the birth-rate.

' In recent years the problem has been approached from many angles —economic, moral, and spiritual— and many recommendations have been put forward, but the practical effect of the consideration has yet to be seen. ' It has been urged, for instance, that unfavourable economic conditions have restricted the size of families and that the remedy lies in lifting the living standards of the people, but statistics unfortunately show that a higher living standard does not result in a higher birth-rate. The Baptist Assembly, approaching the problem very largely from a moral and spiritual point of view, decided yesterday to urge the Government to introduce legislation to encourage a natural increase 'in population. Admittedly, the State has a responsibility, but in the main the responsibility rests on the people themselves. Until they realise that responsibility and perceive clearly that their own interests are vitally at stake there can be no solution of the problem and the fears expressed by Mr. Fraser may be proved to be well founded.