Manawatu Evening Standard. WEDNESDAY, MAR. 18, 1936. THE EDUCATION SYSTEM.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVI, Issue 92, 18 March 1936, Page 8

Manawatu Evening Standard. WEDNESDAY, MAR. 18, 1936. THE EDUCATION SYSTEM.

In the overhaul of New Zealand’s education system, which the Minister (Mr P. Eraser) has promised will be undertaken m the near future, the co-operation of all educational authorities is being sought. From the investigations that will be made the Government hopes to reconstruct the country’s policy. The task, as Mr Eraser pointed out to the Auckland Education Board, does not merely cover the administration side. There are matters of school buildings to enlarge to relieve overcrowding, and of play areas to provide the children with adequate space in which their youthful proclivities in the matter of games may have /full sway. There is promise of a large expenditure in the next financial year, but the goal will not be one of immediate attainment. The Minister plans “in a reasonable period of years to overtake the arrears which have accumulated to such an alarming extent in the depression.” There is not the slightest doubt that the Minister will find a great deal for his Department to do in the matter of buildings. The, request for new schools, or enlargement of existing ones, like education itself, seems to be a; never ending process, and the Government’s problem may be to determine the order of preference. The question of capitation grants is another matter of considerable interest to primary schools. Most committees are quite unable to administer their institutions with the sum of money at present allotted, and Mr Eraser will earn their gratitude if he is able to grant relief, especially to the larger primary schools in the cities. With them it is a matter of urgency, for annually funds must be raised to meet necessary expenditure not covered by the grants, or else the school, which means the pupils, must suffer by having indifferent surroundings and no' facilities for the enjoyment of leisure hours. With regard to the educational system itself, Mr Eraser says there are features which will have to be swept away, and everybody interested is to be consulted. At the same time, he has also announced his intention to base any changes on the report on the system made when Mr H. Atmore was Minister for Education. In 1929 a Recess Education Committee of ten devoted nearly two months in which a_ number of institutions were visited and many witnesses examined. The inquiry ranged from the primary school to the University, and the zeal of the committee was shown by the subjects it examined. Of its personnel four are members of the present Parliament—Mr Eraser himself, Mr C. Carr, who has been co-opted as one of his Ministerial

advisers, Mr AOnore, and Mr Bodkin. The report was not acted upon, but now after seven years may be used to provide the Minister with the basis for the changes he contemplates in tlife system. But the Director of Education also is abroad pursuing' investigations into educational systems, and the possibility of a conflict between the information he gathers and the Atmore report cannot be altogether ruled out. Mr Lambourne’s study of various systems may prove of the greater value to the Government in the task it has set itself. In the meantime, the Minister’s appreciation, as expressed to the Auckland Education Board, of the offers of assistance he has received from boards, committees, secondary and technical school authorities, and the University councils would indicate the interest shown in the matter.