EDUCATIONAL CONGRESS.

Northern Advocate, 13 August 1919, Page 4

EDUCATIONAL CONGRESS.

COMPRISING AUCKLAND PROVINCE.

NO ELBOW ROOM,

OTHER SERIOUS DISABILITIES

AUCKLAND, This Day,

At the conference convened by the Education Board of members of Parliament and educational authorities, held yesterday to consider matters for inquiry, Mr Banks, chairman of the board, in his opening speech said that the Council of Education had passed a resolution that no child should have less that 12 square feet of air space, yet so limited was the present accommodation that it would take half a million pounds sterling to meet that requirement throughout the Dominion. It was a disgrace in a country like New Zealand that such a condition of affairs should exist. They must do all in their power to bring about an improvement!

Mr Banks also referred to the inadequate size of playgrounds, particularly in city and town areas, to the grave inconveniences which teachers endured for want of decent housing, and the "drift" which took place after the compulsory age period pf 14 years had elapsed. ; A COUNTRY ADVOCATE. Mr~j. D .McKenzie. member of the Education Board, spoke on behalf of the country districts. He alluded to the number of buildings all over the country which they were obliged to use, and which were not under their control. In many of these buildings the teachers employed were not certificated teachers. This was not what the board wanted, but what it had to put up with. Children in the country schools, too, sometimes had to ride seven and eight miles to and from schools, with the result that they were too tired' forgive that attention to their studies essential to success. 'He mentioned that notwithstanding this drawback he had known of two instances where boys had won scholarships who had ridden 14 miles to school, though in these two cases they could ride along a beach. These were exceptions, however, and in many cases they had to ride through mud. Never yet had they had a Minister of Education who had the courage to ask Parliament for the amount of money required for the education of the children of this country. THE PHYSICAL STANDARD. Dr. J. S. Reekie, speaking for the needs of the city, said Auckland was the Cinderella of other places in New Zealand. Overcrowding was shocking, and in many of the schools eight square feet was provided instead of twelve. He would go even further than twelve square feet, and say that twenty square feet should be provided, and also that provision be made for alternate rooms. 'They must recognise the fact that the masses of the people were taking things into thir own hands. These people were the most prolific in bringing children into the world. The wants of these people must be catered for. It was said that it would take a silver bullet to win the war.

"I say," he continued, "that it will take a golden shower to establish peace." We must realise that the children were the most valuable asset the country had. These problems would not be settled unless we realised fully this fact. Something must be done, and that immediately. Parliament had faced greater questions than this during the past five yean, and he did not see why it should not be possible to deal with this big question during the present session, short though it might be.

He believed in public schools. It was good for us to come together on one level, to rub shoulders with each other, and get the corners rubbed off. "It is God's plan for us to live together," he said. "He intends us to do so, and I want to see the common children as well provided for as my children are. If their parents are not in a position to do so, the State should purchase their books for them." He went on to point out how expensive was the present system of school books, and the continual change that took place. A uniform system of books would overcome this unnecessary waste. The war had shown us that the physical standard of our manhood was low. The trouble went back to the children, and proper medical attention should be provided. So long as they postponed dealing with these questions, so long would they postpone any definite settlement of the troubles facing them. PLEA FOR DOMESTICITY. Mrs Baume spoke with special reference to the education of girls. This, she stated, was a vital question. Any person entering a profession of any description received a special training. " Yet they were willing to throw an entirely untrained girl into the greatest profession in the world—that of home-making and motherhood. They had all been warned that the world had to face lessened production for some- years to come. It would be necessary to conserve our food supplies as carefully as possible, and therefore necessary that the home provided should have a systematic knowledge of the values of these things.

Mrs Baume urged the necessity of a Chair of Domestic Science in the University. The idea of professional home-making might seem early Victorian, but it would soon be realised that the idea was - even ultra-modern.

Compulsory continuation classes for girls were soon to come into being. But it was a question of monay all the time; they could see clearly what they wished to do, if they were able to afford it.

And the duty that they owed to girls did not extend sufficiently far: They owed a duty to the mothers— the pioneer women of the farming classes—to educate them scientifically in th household problems that it was necessary for them to grapple with.

Such training Mrs Baume urged,! would have an important bearing up-, on the .domestic problem. As '.I was, the domestic drudgery of the home often rendered the mother inert and unable to achieve the personal touch which was so essential. / THE RESOLUTION. Sir Frederick Lang said the thanks of members were due to the Board j for the opportunity given them of I hearing the educational needs. He quoted instances' of overcrowding that had come under his notice, and agreed that more money was needed for educational purposes. All these energies had been directed towards winning the war, but now he thought the country was in a position to j raise a loan sufficient to put the education system on a satisfactory basis. He moved:—That the Auckland members of Parliament present at a conference with the Auckland Education Board resolve to support to their utmost the interests of education, and to that end to act in concert to urge Parliament to vote a sufficient sum of -money during the coming session to place education upon a satisfactory footing." Mr W- T. Jennings, M.P., seconded the motion, which was carried. A vote of thanks to the members of Parliament was carried •on the motion of Mr Boddie.