The Feilding Star Oroua and Kiwitea Counties’ Gazette FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 1930. NEEDS OF THE AGRICULTURAL HIGH SCHOOL.

Feilding Star, Volume 8, Issue 2507, 21 March 1930, Page 4

The Feilding Star Oroua and Kiwitea Counties’ Gazette FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 1930. NEEDS OF THE AGRICULTURAL HIGH SCHOOL.

It is tl>l» considered opinion of tbj members of the Board of Managers os the Agricultural High School that thjqy should have a solid! support of the people of FeiUling behind their appeal to the Government for a substantial grant to enable tl<e Managers to make xnuch noe<Jcd extensions to the School buildings so that sht> good work of their institution can be adequately carried on. Wet think the Managers will ceytainly have Feilding folks bdhind them in th« Big Rusk lo effect their purpose, and wo have no doubt whatever that the member fur Oroua will not be found wanting when he is called uiym to put his weight behind the t'oqucisff. The Agricultural Oollege kas far more than justified its existence. Jt lias rendered splendid service to the cause of education, as well as to the- producing, interests of FdiMing fluid district in making the student off th© land better equipped for farming than wtui fho father of tjio student, thanks to the skilled staff of teachers, and to thfc specialised instruction given the lad who was as ready to barn as was the teacher to impart knowledge. To us it is surpising that the Managers should have to go cap in hand to the Minister of Education for the needed funds, because the School's agricultural specialties have made it a model and an example* in secondary institutions. This fact is emphasised by the strong dlesire of other districts in the Dominion to copy F wilding’s example. But Mr Atmore should not penalise Feilding on that account. Massey Collegia will need feeders, and Feilding’s School will provide the students for the* College. How urgently the Feilding institution needs its extensions may be gathered from ,a review of the actual position to-day. The School roll is now 214, while tlie School building has only seven room, including, .the laboratory. For teaching purposes there are 13 separate groups, including , tip Sixth Form. There are nine full-time teachers. As a consequence, to all practical intents and purposes the School is now broken into* two s eparate units. One of these occupies that barracks-like building in the busiest part of the borough known as the “Old Tech,” with its playing area measuring about 10 by 15 yards and with its windows and front door opening directly on to the streets. There on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays assemble about GO pupils from the High School, while the accommodation is shared by primary school children attending for cooking or manual training cesses. On the afternoons of Mondays and' Tuesdays and on Friday morning other sections of the School make usm of those buildings. As a matter of fact, there is only one morning in the week (Monday) when the whole School is assembled ; and that means that almost every hole and corner

available is used for classes. Ever, that assembly would not bo possible were it not t.bat the common room in tlie School House is regularly used as a. classroom., as is also on« room in the animal husbandry building. The division of the School into two units in an arbitrary manner imposed by lack of accommodation, and the enforced occupation of an unsuitab’ie building in an entirely unsuitable environment, is a condition of affairs which is resented very naturally by the School and should not be tolerated by the community. And yet another point to be pushed j home is that tlicc needs of the School j nine years ago, when it was provided, WvV© for 60 pupils—to-day there are* 214 students on the rolll A splendid case for the appeal of the J Managers. |