Education Affairs In Wanganui District

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 111, 13 May 1939, Page 6

Education Affairs In Wanganui District

REQUESTS TO MINISTER A number of matters concerning the education policy of the Government were placed before Hon. Peter Fraser, Minister of Education, by the Wanganui Education Board on Thursday afternoon at a special meeting. Mr. E. F. Hemingway presided and those present were Colonel J. H. Whyte, Messrs. N. Annabell, W. T. Benefield, P. Munro, L. A. Bailey, 1. W. Mudford, J. W. Batchelar, A. S. Coleman and W. H. Brown. Mr. J. B. Cotterill, M.P. for Wanganui, and Mr. W. J. Rogers, Mayor of Wanganui, were also present. The Minister said that he would discuss with the departmental heads the possibility of more rapid progress with building. Mr. Hemingway said that the list of urgent building works was becoming larger each year. Regarding the improvement of school grounds, the Minister said that there were many works which had been approved but had not yet been started. The whole matter of ground improvements would be considered by the department in the near future. Mr. Hemingway said that the supplementary capitation grants had to be anticipated by the boards. He suggested that the question of including the supplementary grant in the ordinary scale should be considered. The Minister said that a quesuonnaire had been sent out to education departments regarding capitation grants. The department asked for the balance-sheets of the school committees so that it could ascertain whether the committees w r ere receiving sufficient money or too much. Capitation from the Consolidated Fund would not be reduced. The 50 per cent.. increase given to school committees in 1936 would be continued and committees could budget accordingly. Mr. Hemingway said that the boarl felt that schools which were consolidated should have representation on the schools which they joined up with, and it was felt that provision should be made for such a position. The Minister said that the proposal seemed fair. If this was done the question was whether a vote should l;e taken over the whole area or the new school district divided into wards. He did not know which would be the most satisfactory method. Mr. Hemingway: I think that it depends entirely on the size of the districts. Married Women Teachers Dealing with a request by the board that it should be given discretionary powers regarding the employment of married women school teachers, the Minister said that a married woman who had had experience in rearing children had wider experience and was really more qualified than a single woman. When the question was looked on from the economic aspect it was not so easy to decide. “I am concerned about some aspects of this matter and I will look into it. I quite realise the difficulties,” he said. Tho Minister said that he would investigate the difficulty experienced by some secondary schools in the country in endeavouring to secure manual instruction teachers. “It is not fair to the children concerned as their work would be futile if there was no degree of certainty of having a permanent teacher,” ho said. The suggestion was made that members of the board should be paid a mileage rate for the use of their cars when on board business. Many members travelled long distances to school functions at their own expense. He suggested a payment of sixpence a mile. The Minister said that he would look into the matter on his return to Wellington. He considered that sixpence a mile was too high and would create a dangerous precedence. The allowance paid to Public Service employees who used their own cars varied and depended on the size of the vehicle. Consolidation of Schools The suggestion that the Education Department might co-operate with the Railways Department in the provision of rail-cars for the carriage of children rather than establishing schools and building residences in some districts was advanced by Mr. P. Munro. He suggested that rail-cars could be used to advantage in the King Country districts.

The Minister said ho would l>e pleased to discuss the matter with his colleague, the Minister of Railways. He felt that there was some room for co-operation between the two departments, an example of co-operation being provided in the Waitara district where the children were conveyed by rail to a good post-primary school in New Plymouth. “I must congratulate tho board on what it has done in tho consolidation of schools in its district and for the work it had done in the establishment of the Intermediate School,” said Mr. Fraser. “No one could have done better work.” Consolidation was being carried out at a fast pace in New Zealand.