TARADALE PUPILS

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXVI, Issue 283, 13 November 1936, Page 10

TARADALE PUPILS

Attendance at Intermediate School “SHOULD BE OPTIONAL” The proposal to send the fifth and sixth standards of the Taradale School to the Napier Intermediate School was strongly opposed by Mr J. A. Wilkinson at last night’s meeting of the Taradale Town Board. He considered that attendance at the Napier Intermediate School should be optional and that the compulsory provision should no more apply to Taradale than to certain other centres in the close vicinity of Napier from which children attended the Intermediate School. Mr Wilkinson further contended that many of the householders had not been fully conversant with the issue placed before them by the Hawke’s Bay Education Boards if they had been the proposal would have been voted out, he declared. In his opening remarks Mr Wilkinson said he considered that the proposal to remove complete school facilities appeared to be a move detrimental to the district, as it might be the means of discouraging people with families from settling in the township because of complete primary school training not being available. . Mr Wilkinson said he was not averse to the policy of the intermediate school system, which was right in principle, but he did not think that children should be compelled to travel five miles or more to attend the Intermediate School. In a somewhat scattered district like ‘ Taradale, especially for the children living on the outskirts, he felt that the daily bus journey would be a big strain. If the conveyance took a circuitous route it would probably mean that the children would be in the bus for three-quarters of a hour each way, which in the winter would take up practically all their daylight, which otherwise would be used for recreational purposes. MANY DISADVANTAGES. Mr Wilkinson considered that there were many disadvantages in the proposal which had not been apparent to the representatives of the Education Board when they addressed the meetings of householders in Taradale. He pointed out that there had been a move in the district for some years past to encourage a rural spirit. This proposal, however, would have the opposite effect and it would encourage people to want to live in the town where complete schooling facilities were available. The chairman of the Hawke’s Bay Education Board had accused the Taradale people of being very apathetic. Mr Wilkinson said he wished to point out, however, that quite a lot of Opposition was shown to the proposal, as 63 votes were recorded against it. If many of the residents had been more conversant with the position the vote in opposition would have been much heavier. Mr Wilkinson said that in the voting papers there was what he regarded as a serious anomaly. In the case where there was only one parent who had three or more children only one vote could be exercised, while in another case where two parents might have only one child two votes could be exercised.

One of these disadvantages in sending the children to Napier was where they had long distances to walk to the bus and might get wet during rainy weather doing so, which would necessitate their sitting in school in wet clothes all day. It was generally known that of the children who went in for,what might be termed intensive or classified education fully 80 per cent of them never derived any ultimate benefit from it. Mr Wilkinson was strongly of the opinion that the question should be optional, so enabling those. parents who were desirous of sending their children to the Intermediate School to do so. If the Intermediate School were a particularly sound institution it would attract pupils without the imposing of compulsory provision. LITTLE HOPE OF CHANGE. Mr F. O. Anderson said that while he was in sympathy with the remarks made by Mr Wilkinson he did not hold out much hope of any change now being made. From a citizen’s point of view he considered that every effort should be made to build up the township, and by taking the children away such effort would be discouraged. The intermediate school system had undoubtedly come to stay, but in outlying places attendance should be optional. For what had taken place, Mr Anderson said, the parents were largely to blame. They had been given every opportunity of discussing it but had remained apathetic about it, many of them not bothering to send in their voting papers. If all had taken the trouble to vote the result might have been very different. Mr Wilkinson said that rather than encouraging a rural bias the proposal would create a town bias, which was not desirable. Mr Anderson said it would mean a loss of 60 children to the Taradale School. Mr Wilkinson said that he understood a public meeting was to be held to consider the question. He then gave notice of his intention to move at, the next meeting: “That the board is of the opinion that the question of attendance at the Intermediate School at Napier for the Taradale children should be optional owing to the many disadvantages that would pertain to it.”