SCHOOLS IN THE BACK BLOCKS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13455, 6 April 1907, Page 6

SCHOOLS IN THE BACK BLOCKS.

HOW EDUCATION IS HAMPERED. SCHOOL BUILT OF PALINGS. Examples of what serious difficulties face country settlers in the "outback" districts in the matter of education of their children come before almost every meeting of the Auckland Board of Education. One day it is an appeal on behalf of children who have to walk miles over roads that bog bullock teams; another day it is a question of providing a half-time school .in some remote neighbourhood, where half-a-dozen children have been running almost wild in the bush, and again the Board is called upon to look into a case where a female teacher is required by the exigencies of her work to reside in surroundings that offend every sense. At yesterday's meeting Inspector Grierson reported having visited Tirohanga, where there is a building which, instead of being called a school should have some special name designed for it. The inspector said: "Nineteen scholars were present in a shed by 7?tt, built of palings, with sft studs, a mud floor, and no ventilation but. that provided by gaps between the shingles of the roof. A school building about midway between the present school and the beach is urgently needed." The inspector further added that the method and quality of the instruction imparted by Miss White, the teacher, was very satisfactory, and the teaching was brightly and intelligently presented, and well impressed. Mr. J. Stallworthy, M.H.R., remarked that this was "open-air treatment." The secretary (Mr. V. E. Rice) said the Board was at present awaiting information from the people of the district before recommending to the Department that a grant should be made for a building.