The Star. (PUBLISHED DAILY.)

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XIX, Issue 3293, 5 December 1892, Page 2

The Star. (PUBLISHED DAILY.)

MONDAY, DECEMBEB 5, 1892.

EDUCATION BUILDING FUND.

The Wanganui Education Board at their l&ftt meelinß p&Bßea Ibb following resolutions' :—": — " That in view of the reduoed amount received for building purposes, this Board is compelled to make tbe following representations to the bead of the Government : That settlement is extending more rapidly and extensively on this West Coast than in any other part of New Zealand ; that the consequent urgent demand for school buildings is altogether beyond tbe power of the Board with its reduced means to overtake ; that in order to supplement a totally inadequate building fund this Board has from time to time impoverished its general account by tranßferring a sum of £6000 to the fund for building purposes; that notwithstanding this large transfer the Board is now over £1000 in debt on the Building Account, ' and has not one penny wherewith to meet the present urgent demands and the claims which m&y be expected to arrivn during the whole of the nexc year ; and that a copy of the foregoing representations be forwarded to the Premier and the Minister for Education." This resolution sets out a very serious state of things, but we have to point out that though the heavy falling off in attendance in Wanganni district i owing to the diphtheria scare and other accidental causes has precipitated the Board into a very awkward financial position, the result is really attributable to a course of policy and administration which we bave for years past unavailingly expoßsd and condemned. The unfairness of a uniform capitation grant to all districts alike irrespective of oircumstanoes is, or ought to be, patent to aoyone who takes tbe trouble to consider the matter. An education district like Wellington, or North Canterbury, or Otago, whioh in. eludes within its boundaries a great city,

where there are thousands of children in attendance at a few bobools, can educate a large proportion of tbe children within its jurisdiction at much lees than £3 15s per heacl. Therefore, it has a considerable Bnrplns, so to speak, to enable it to deal with small school districts in wbich tbe children cannot be edncated for £3 15s per head, and the country schools can be kept running efficiently by means of the savings made out of the iarser schools. This cannot be done in the emaller education districts. There is again a vast difference in respect ot the | demands for new schoolß. In parts of the country where settlement is pro- | grossing rapidly the demands mads upon the board! are numerous, whereas in districts where there are not large areas of public landß being newly settled the demands mußt be fewer. But the capita, tion grant is on the same basis for all, though it is clear that in the one case it ought to increase not simply and in proportion to the number of children, but progressively, because for some years almost every new school opened .means a loss to the board, that is to say the revenue received in respect of the children in attendance does not meet the cost of the school. It has been found that in Wellington Education District, even with its large city and suburban schools, the building grant is insufficient to enable it to keep pace with tbe demands for new schools, owing to the rapid advance of settlement in the outlying portions of the district. If this be the case in Wellington district, how muoh more must it be bo in Wanganui district, and also in Taranaki district, in which there are no large city schools, and where settlement has been progressing quite as rapidly as in Wellington. So far with regard merely to cbe capitation grant, but the arguments apply with infinitely greater force to the case of the bnildio^r grant. "Whatever may be said in reply as to tbe oapitation grant, we apprehend there can be nothing said in justification ot the principle of distributing the building grant on the basis of population. In is true that there has been some attempt to remedy the difficulty by making a small supplementary grant, but it has not been a serious effort, and oertainly has not met the case. The distribution of the capitation grant is regulated by Act, and cannot be altered, we presume, without an amendment of the Act, but the distribution of the building grant is an act of administration, and the Minister should have the courage to deal with the matter. So long as the building grant is wholly or mainly distributed on the population basis, difficulty in newly-settled districts will continue to be acutely felt. But, further, it is also evident that no correction of the system oi distribution will make up lor an ancfer-eetimate of the amount required. For some reason the party now in power have not been as generous as they might bave been expected to be in respect of the vote fijr school buildings. Wben in Opposition in 1890 they cut down the vote proposed by their predecessors, and they have themselves this year voted a very •mall Gum. We find mentioned in the public appropriations a sum only of i! 31,000, though the Government were Warned that that would not be nearly enough to meet absolutely necessary requirements. Coming particularly to the Wanganui and Taranaki districts we know that tbe needs are pressing. That the Wauganui Education Board has for years done its best is shown by the fact that it haß transferred no less than £6000 from general account to the Iriilding fund* It may be said that buildings to that value have been erected at the cost of the board's employes, and, further, it may be assumed that to some extent the efficiency of the schools has in consequence suffered. But even after adopting this hardly defensible expedient, the Board has an empty purse aB regard its building fund, and many demands caonofc be satisfied. Sorely it is a case for a special grant to districts in the position of ■Wanganni and Taranaki. Schools and roads are essential to successful settlement, and yet both are given with a niggardly hand, while every party, and •very public man, ever cries that progress in land settlement is the main factor in securing the colony's advance and stability.