Thought This Was A Free Country’

Northern Advocate, 15 August 1949, Page 5

Thought This Was A Free Country’

When he came to New Zealand he thought it was a free country and that, therefore it was not compulsory to send his child to school, indicated James Edward Case, to Mr W. C. Harley, S.M., in the Whangarei Court this morning. He was charged by Charles Tennyson Reade, representing the Auckland Education Board, that, being the parent of a child enrolled on the register of the Waimana Public School, he failed to send the child to school during the weeks ending May 6, 27, June 3, 10, 17 and 24, 1949. He was ordered to pay 12/- the amount of the fine at the minimum rate of 2/- a week, and to pay 17/6 mileage costs, and court costs of 10/-. Case pleaded.guilty. Mr Reade said' that Case wrote to the headmaster of the school saying that his child was taking lessons at home. When the headmaster reported this to the Education Board, the board wrote to Case, saying the boy must attend school. Case replied, asking for correspondertce lessons to be sent. The board found that there were no grounds for this, and Case was advised accordingly. TEACHING OWN CHILD Case said he had come to New Zealand from England about three years ago. His boy had lost a lot of schooling because of. asthma and air raids. He had learned nothing at the Waimana School. Both he and his wife were quite capable of teaching the boy. They now lived about 61 miles from the nearest school, and there was no transport to it. He thought it was “tough that a man couldn’t teach his own children.”

Mr Harley asked if he had not heard of the New Zealand educational systam. “Well, I didn’t know it was compulsory—i was under the impression that this was a free country,” replied Case, who asked that the boy be taught by correspondence lessons. “The child is eligible for correspondence lessons now,” .pointed out Mr Reade, “but he wasn’t before. However, we are not considering the present circumstances.”