EVILS OF CENTRALISATION.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXII, Issue 90, 31 March 1932, Page 3

EVILS OF CENTRALISATION.

(To the Editor). Sir, —One of the recommendations of the Commission on National Expenditure is that education boards should be abolished. Now, Sir, the principle of centralisation seems to me to be abso-< lutely wrong. With the increased power of officialdom and absolutism in control comes depression and indifference in those who are subjected to it. The “personal touch” in educational matters is of very great importance and each education board handles correspondence to the extent of thousands of letters yearly, interviews hundreds of teachers, committee men, parents, etc., and telephone calls are frequent throughout the day. It is not possible that this work could be done as expeditiously by the present departmental staff at a saving of £50,000. Professor J. J. Findlay, one of the leading educationists of to-day, says: “When the central department controlling money assumes the role of master and dictator, we have no longer a system of education, but a mere knowledge shop.” May I be permitted to quote from the “Taranaki Herald” dated March 26th:— “The commission states that * under the present system it is necessary for the department to oversee all expenditure, and the result is that the present system of administration is one of the most cumbrous and costly that could be devised.’ Is such overseeing necessary? If so, why? Apparently this ‘cumbrous and costly system’ has grown up owing to the department’s distrust of boards and from its desire to centralise everything in Wellington. Past experience of such centralised departmental control goes to show that in any department there develops such red tape and stereotyped methods that progress is hindered and development checked. Thus new ideas have little hope of development.