SECONDARY EDUCATION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20600, 26 June 1930, Page 10

SECONDARY EDUCATION.

ACCOMMODATION PROBLEM. POSITION IN AUCKLAND. ASSURANCE BY MINISTER. PROPOSED NEW SCHOOLS. . A decision not to press for further secondary school accommodation in Auckland at present was made at a meeting of the Auckland Grammar School Board yesterday. A reply to repeated requests made by the board for additional accommodation at its schools was received from the Minister of Education. The Minister quoted • statistics to show that it was likely the number of pupils entering secondary schools would be lower next year owing to the effect of the war years. He stated that the new school at Otahuhu would be ready for occupation next February and would accommodate new pupils from all schools from Ellerslie to Papakura. It wa3 estimated that the number from the district would be 204. The Minister continued:—"With regard to the board's further statement that there is to be a gradual reduction- of pupils at the Auckland Grammar School each year until a maximum of 800 boys is reached, I have to say that long before February, 1932, I expect that a school of the new type will be erected at Pasadena, in the Grey Lynn-Gladstone-Mount Albert district. Such a school would afford considerable relief to some of the existing secondary schools and would enable a general readjustment to be made in numbers. " It is admittedly a difficult matter to estimate precisely what the position will be next February, but I am of the opinion that there need be no grounds for alarm. At a time when the whole question of remodelling the education system is receiving the closest consideration it appears inadvisable to erect further accommodation in city secondary schools than is urgently necessary.." The chairman, Professor A. P. W. Thomas, said it had been prophesied that there would be a falling-o2 in pupils at the beginning of the present year, but this had not come about. People were inclined to leave their children longer at a secondary school than formerly. Members agreed that, in view of the circumstances, there was no necessity for pressing the application for accommodation. It "was decided to receive the Minister's letter. The school on the Pasadena Estate, Point Chevalier, referred to by the Minister, is one for which sketch plans have been prepared by the architect of the Auckland Education Board and submitted to the Education Department. Its exact purpose is not known to board officials and, like the Otahuhu School which is beiug erected, its use as either a primary or a post-primary school will depend largely on possible changes in the education system.