SCHOOL BOOKS

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 23 July 1925, Page 5

SCHOOL BOOKS

COST OP FREE ISSUE'.

£IOO,OOO INVOLVED. MINISTER UNFAVOURABLE. FROM OUR PARLIAMENTARY REPORTER. WELLINGTON, July 22. “The Education Department has already done a great deal to relieve parents of the expense of providing primary school books, inasmuch as all reading, matter for standard classes is provided free, through the medium of the School Journal and supplementary continuous re a dens,’ ’ abates the Minister for Education. “The cost to the State at present is not less than £IO,OOO a year. The number of textbooks in other subjects has been restricted as much as possible, the authorised list now containing only five books, all of which are uniform throughout New Zealand. This obviously cheapens the cost to parents. Further, in all raises where parents are unable to afford to purchase books, these are provided free. Beyond this the department is not prepared to recommend the Government to go.”

Mr. Witty, who liad asked this question, expressed disappointment that the Minister could not make , all books free in the primary schools: In this opinion he was supoprted by several members.

Sir James Parg (Minister for Education) replied that what members were demanding would involve another £IOO,OOO to ■inaugurate the system, with annually recurring expense; of £25,000 to £30.000. Expenditure; on education last year was £300,000 in excess of the previous year, and he could not ask Cabinet for the money needed for a complete supply of free school books, especially ais the expenditure must continue to increase when 5000 additional children went to school every year,