WHAT DOES “FREE” MEAN?
APPLIED TO EDUCATION
COST OF SCHOOL BOOKS
iTI _ (% Telegraph) (From The Mail’s” Parliamentary Reporter).
WELLINGTON, Bth August. Is education in New Zealand, free? This was ono of tho questions debated in the House of Representatives to-day discussing a reply given by the Minister of Education (the Hon. R. A. Wright) that it would cost too much at presentto supply free school books.
Mr M. J. Savage (Auckland East) said that tlie Prime Minister had declared that the Reform Party stood for free, secular and compulsory education. The party, liowevce-,, acted inconsistently. Mr Coates had said that -the Reform Party believed in free education from primary scliooh to university,' but,.“flow they were told that, free oJchool'Looks: could not he provided. What was the 1 meaning of “free” education if it did not include free stationery. '* The Minister) of Education replied that the system was held to be free in the sense that it was the opposite of the svstem where the pupils had to pay for weir education. It could not be denied that the system was free; and in every other part of the world the same meaning attached to the term “free education” as in New Zealand.
Mr G. W. Forbes (Hurunui): “What is the meaning of secular?” Mr Wright: “Secular means non-sec-tarian.” (Laughter). The system of .education was free as the word was generally understood, and that was how it had been used by the Prime Minister and the Reform Party generally. Mr H. Atmore (Nelson); VAs the word is generally misused.” Mr Wright said that accommodating -language had to be employed. The Leader of tho Opposition (Mr H. E. Holland), after twitting Mr Wright on the use of accommodating language, asked how education could be considered to bo free if there was an exceptionally heavy charge levied on parents for school books. When speaking at the Wellington Town Hall Mr Coates had not made any limitations and there was no suggestion of acoonjmodating language, either. *■
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NEM19280809.2.83
Bibliographic details
Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 9 August 1928, Page 6
Word Count
332WHAT DOES “FREE” MEAN? Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 9 August 1928, Page 6
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Nelson Evening Mail. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.