More Schools Urgent Need

Northern Advocate, 16 July 1948, Page 3

More Schools Urgent Need

WELLINGTON, Fri. (P.A.)—The provision of schools cannot wait until the housing problem is solved, in the opinion of the Minister of Education (Mr McCombs). „ He told the House of Representatives today that the problem of providing school accommodation for the increasing number of children was urgent. To provide the schools urgently needed would require only about 21 per cent of the present building capacity demoted to housing, and since there was likely to be an increase of 55,000 to 60,000 on primary school rolls by 1952, he thought the matter could not long be delayed.

The number of children on state school rolls was about 280,000, an increase of 7000 over, last year.

ROOMS AND TEACHERS He anticipated that primary school rolls would, by 1952, be between 275,000 and 285,000. This would result in a demand for 1300 classrooms for primary schools and 325 for post-primary schools. There would also be need for teachers, and it was hoped to enrol approximately 1225 this year, which would mean that one in every five who passed the school certificate would be required to reach that figure. After reviewing the conditions and salaries of teachers, Mr McCombs sai>. salaries had risen by 70 per cent since 1935 .

MILK IN SCHOOLS The Government also proposed to give further encouragement to kindergarten schools. He said definitely and emphatically that recent discussions in Christchurch proposing to abolish the milk-in-schools scheme did not come from a Government source. The scheme would be continued, and he had no doubt that it would go a long way toward removing causes of malnutrition among school children. Mr McCombs said he strongly refuted the suggestion made by Mr W. J. Sim at the National Party conference that his party would put an end to perverted trends in the education system wffiich were producing pupils moulded to the Socialist stat.e The present education syllabus taught pupils to think for themselves in relation to the environment in which they must live.