COUNTRY SCHOOLS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 12662, 16 September 1904, Page 5

COUNTRY SCHOOLS.

[Nt TELECRAPH.— OWN CORRESPONDENT.] Christcetjrch, Thursday. The South Canterbury branch of the New Zealand Educational Institute, in response to a request from the local Board of Education, has submitted ft scheme fo* ' the centralisation of country schools. The institute stated that their only desire- was to provide for children not in the- immediate neighbourhood of schools an education better, yet less costly, than could be provided by the multiplication of small schools. regarding the conveyance of children to schools the terms offered and the conditions made by the Department were not liberal enough to make it worth any man's while to provide a single large conveyance to carry al' distant pupils to a school. Seeing that the single conveyance system is impracticable, the institute " recommend as an alternative the plan of separate conveyances, so that any person conveying children to school in accordance with the Government conditions may receive the regulation allowance. Thus, by allowing the eldest pupil to drive, the owner of a vehicle would have no driver to pay, yet would receive Is 8d per week for each child carried. He might pick up at convenient places pupils other than members of his own family, and all would be gathered into a larger school to enjoy better educational advantages than could be provided by a small school. A similat plan was worked at E3k "Valley, and six or seven miles should not be too long a drive for children who, the Department considers, are able to walk three or four. We know it is a practicable scheme, for many children are at the present time driven to school at theii parents' expense. The remuneiation offered by the Department would help to make parents satisfied with the system." A letter from the Victorian Education Office states that in a considerable number of cases a conveyance system has adequately met the requirements. The report was referred to a committee for consideration.