The Hawera Star. MONDAY, APRIL 30, 1934. SCHOOL COMMITTEE’S ELECTIONS.

Hawera Star, Volume LIV, 30 April 1934, Page 4

The Hawera Star.

MONDAY, APRIL 30, 1934. SCHOOL COMMITTEE’S ELECTIONS.

Delivered every evening by 5 o'clock in Hawera, Manaia. Kaupokonui, Otakeho, Oeo, Pihan:a, Opunake, Eltham, Ngaere, Mangatoki, Kaponga, Awatuaa, Te Kiri, Mahoe, Lowgarth, Manutahi, Kakaramea. Alton, Hurleyville, Patea, kura, Waverley, Mokoia, Wkakamara, Ohangai, Meremere, Fraser Road and Ararata

The annual meetings of householders to be held throughout the province tonight are of more than usual importance, since the new committees will hold) office for two years instead of one, as previously. Though the lengthening of the term will mean some saving in trouble and .expense, there is a very real danger that it will mean a slackening off in the already feeble interest taken in school committee work by the majority of householders. Perhaps because the statutory power of school committees has been whittled awjy to almost nothing, service on them has become unattractive, and in the last few years the difficulty at most householders’ meetings has been' to form any committee at all, let alone a strong committee. Yet it should be realised that lack of statutory power does not hinder a school committee in its most important wo-rk, which is to bring parents into 1 closer .touch with the work of the school and to give them an insight into the practical problems of education. To be really successful, a school must be a local as well as a national institution. In New Zealand the national aspect of education' has been sufficiently, perhaps too greatly, emphasised. The centralising policy of the Education Pcparlntent has prevented schools from acquiring the individuality which comes from adaptation to the need's of a locality, and it should bo the endeavour of school commij.tees to bring a healthy variety into! the prevailing uniformity by emphasising distinctive local needs. That, needless 1 0‘ say, does not mean that they should' j bo narrowly parochial in' outlook, for there is all the difference iu the world between parochialism. and community spirit. But (there is another and! more

important reason why householder's should take an active interest in the elections to-day. Education in New Zealand is now at the cross roads. The time lia.s come either to sweep away the unused machinery of local control ami complete the Education' Department’s dictatorship or to make local control J an effective reality. Central control | has already produced a deadening sameness among the school's and has exalted a superficial standard! of efficiency which is the enemy of .initiative and originality. The only remedy is a compromise between central and local control which will ensure a minimum standard of efficiency and at the same time leave local authorities free to experiment to individualise their schools. The public has not yet realised that if control is to be retained and' extended it must be fought for; and the best method of fighting for it is to ensure that there is a lively interest in the affairs of all local education authorities, including school committees.