THE HORSE-SHOE BUSH SCHOOL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 8814, 1 March 1892, Page 3

THE HORSE-SHOE BUSH SCHOOL.

TO THE editor. Sib,—Your Dairy Flat " Own Correspondent," in his communication which appeared in your issue of the 20th instant, makes the following remark respecting the proposed schoolhouse at the Horse-shoe Bush :— 'Not a very expensive structure, however, as the parents of many of the children were not permanent residents." As this is apt to mislead, I beg to state that there is no reason to believe otherwise than that the children attending the Horse-shoe Hush school may be justly considered as permanent population. There are now 30 on the official attendance roll of the school, of whom 18 were born in the district, and of the remaindei all except three have been upwards of eighteen months in the district. When the Board of Education were requested to establish a school at the Horse-shoe Bush iu 1884 there were 14 children of school age in the neighbourhood. In July, 1890, when the school was first opened, there were 20 children on the attendance roll, which, as I have before said, now stands at 30, whilst there are 20 children in the district under school age. These facts prove that the number of children of school age and under is constantly increasing in the district, and it is impossible to conceive that the Board of Education can much longer ignore the claims of this district by refusing to build a schoolhouse equal to its requirements. I concur with your " Own Correspondent," although from different reasons, that it is not necessary to build a very expensive structure; indeed, in the buildingof country schoolhouses the Board of Education probably often incurs too lavish an expenditure, and probably such will continue to be the case so long as architects are paid in accordance with the cost of the building. 1 can ! also endorse the remarks of your " Own | Correspondent" in reference to the very dilatory action of the Board of Education in this matter, it having been pending and its consideration deterred from time to time since July, 1891 ; besides which six years were consumed (unwisely, as the sequel has proved) in debating the question of estab' lishing a school at the Horseshoe Bush. In the wait-a-bit policy the Board of Education cannot be eclipsed, even by a Maori com mittee ; but tins defect is probably inherent in the constitution of the Board, and which could best be remedied by each member of the Board becoming the representative of a particular district; besides which, in that case, each committee would presumably know something of the character and qualifications of the candidate supported by it. At present many committees are absolutely in the dark respecting both.—l am, etc., Horseshoe Bush, Charles Hardy. Dairy Flat, Feb. 23, 1892.