SCHOOL PLAYGROUNDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15398, 5 September 1913, Page 8

SCHOOL PLAYGROUNDS.

SUGGESTION BY THE MAYOR

HELP FROM CITY COUNCIL.

A very practical suggestion wa© made by the Mayor (Mr. C. J. Parr) at the opening of the infants' division of the Napier Street School yesterday, when he touched upon the question of providing suitable playing areas for the children in the city schools.

In new suburban schools, said Mr. Parr, at least four acres of land was being obtained by a prudent board, so that the pupils there would have no lack of playing area. It was the city schools, however, that needed these "breathing spaces" most. There were in Auckland numerous parks and pleasure grounds on which the council spent large sums of money annually. This money was not grudged in the least, but these spaces were mostly for adults. If a sum of from £500 to £1000 were set aside ' annually by the council from the money bo spent, and a similar donation were made by the Education Board, then they would be in a position to ask the Minister to do his manifest duty and add a like sum. There would thus be a fund available annually for expenditure on school playgrounds, which were essentially parks for the young people.

The Mayor stated that he was sure the council would back him up, and with the co-operation of the board, they could go right ahead and bring the necessary pressure to bear upon the Government at Wellington. It was a long way better, said Mr. Parr in conclusion, for a boy to have tho opportunity to build up a strong, healthy frame that would endure sickness, than lor him to be merely able to pass the sixth standard.