Marlborough Express PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. Wednesday, March 14, 1906. EDUCATION BOARD AND SCHOOL COMMITTEES.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXXIX, Issue 62, 14 March 1906, Page 2

Marlborough Express PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. Wednesday, March 14, 1906. EDUCATION BOARD AND SCHOOL COMMITTEES.

As will have been gathered from our report of the discussion which took place at the meeting of the local Education Board this week, the " ward system" introduced by the Amending Education Act passed last session has produced a remarkable anomaly in the Maryborough district. Having regard to the peculiar geographical nature of the province, probably no other disr trict in the Colony will experience such subversive results. l Hitherto the members of the Education Board have been elected by the school committees as a body and on a universal franchise, and. they have represented the whole of the district, without reference to locality. The new law, however, provides for the division of the district into four wards, and the return of members by means of a franchise which gives ■■ the members of school committees, in their individual capacity, a vote for each ''school" within their own boundaries. Thus the old ward principle, tried for so many years in municipal government, found wanting, and rejected, has been adopted for the administration of educational affairs; and at the same time the hands of the individual school commiteemen have largely strengthened. The Maryborough Education Board, as well as the North Canterbury Board, are complaining bitterly that these reforms encourage parochialism, and interfere with their constitution by unduly strengthening the voting powers of -country committees. It was said at this week's meeting that the occult purpose of the legislation is to enable members of Parliament, who would otherwise be unsuccessful, to secure seats on the Boards; but this inference does not appeal to us at all. We cannot see any force in it. In intro- ; ducing the Bill in question last October, Mr Seddon, as Minister for Education, said:—

Members will notice that we propose to divide the education districts into five wards. I may say that at the conference of members of Education Boards held in Wellington recently they concurred with-what.is proposed under the Bill—for the householders to elect the members of Education Boards—but the conference disagreed with my proposals for the division or the Education Board districts mto wards. There was good ground tor this difference of opinion, but, with my experience as a member of an itiducation Board for very many years and as Minister of Education', and rrom what has been placed before me m many of the districts I have visited, 1 have come to the conclusion that it is wise for us to have these subdivisions and to have representation from the various parts of the education districts If you do not adopt this course it may be that either the country districts may.have a preponderance ot representation, or that at some time, with an increasing urban and suburban population, with the larger num-i b'er of schools in and around the centres there would be a corresponding increase in the School Committees and a preponderance of representation on the Education Board. Now, what you want to do, in my opinion, is to have all parts of the Education district represented on the Board, and more, particularly is- the representation wanted for-some of the far-off country districts, because it is by that means they have their wants and requirements brought directly before the Board by their representatives; and 1 would ask the House, notwithstanding the conclusion that was arrived at by the conference of members ot Jiiducation Boards, to agree to my proposal for this subdivision.

We think that the Premier was quite sincere in the matter, and that the above- words express his real motive. Nevertheless, it is our opinion that he would have been wise tq weigh more carefully the good counsel offered by the Conference of Education Boards. ' In the case of Marlborough, the application. of the Act of last session produces some ridiculous results. The scattered Sounds district, for ■ instance, 'is dotted with a large number of schools, managed by committees, and the voting power of those committees is enhanced to a degree that is quite beyond reasonable proportion. Even the members of those committees would readily recognise the anomaly and agree to its:rectincation, 6 Not that the present personnel of the Board, which has done splendid service to the. Sound settlers, is likely to.suffer; but a very important principle is at stake.