WELLINGTON COLLEGE

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 74, 29 March 1939, Page 18

WELLINGTON COLLEGE

IS IT UNPOPULAR?

IMPROVEMENT SUGGESTED

Pointing out that more than 160 boys from the North Island were attending Nelson College this year and that the secondary schools at Rongotai and in the Hutt Valley were overcrowded while there was room to spare at Wellington Boys' College, Mr. W. B. Fitchett, at yesterday afternoon's meeting of the Wellington Colleges Board of Governors, urged the necessity of attempting to popularise Wellington College. Parents chose the boarding schools for their sons on fees, prospectus, and reputation, said Mr. Fitchett, and he thought that Wellington College should be made more attractive. The chairman (Mr. L. McKenzie) said that the most popular colleges in New Zealand were those where boarding hostels for boys and girls were conducted in the same town so that parents could see their sons and daughters on the one visit. He thought it was a mistake to have closed down the girls' hostel in .Wellington. Mr. W. H. P. Barber said that some of the boys from Rongotai could be diverted to Wellington College by altering the school boundaries. | Mr. W. H. Field remarked that NelI son College had had a wonderful reputation for years. Mr. W. V. Dyer: Do they play Soccer at Nelson? Mrs. Knox Gilmer said she had inspected the Wellington College hostel and knew exactly what was wrong there. | It was decided that Mrs. Gilmer and Mr. McKenzie. who have already inspected the hostel, should present a written report to the board.