MAORI SCHOOLS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23088, 13 July 1938, Page 5

MAORI SCHOOLS

RECENT IMPROVEMENTS rotorua and east coast TRIBUTE PAID TO TEACHERS [BT TELEGRAPH —OWN CORRESPONDENT] WELLINGTON, Tuesday The improvements being effected in Maori schools in the East Coast and Rotorua districts were described by Mrs. P. Fraser, wife of the Minister of Education, in an address to members of the Wellington School Committees and Educational Federation. Mrs. Fraser accompanied the Minister on his recent tour, during which visits were paid to many schools, both Maori and pakeha. Mrs. Fraser paid a tribute to the teachers in the Maori schools and said they were doing work which had not received the recognition to which it was entitled. She said that, on a recent visit to Maori schools in the East Coast district and also in Rotorua, she was greatly impressed both bv the cultural and hand work being carried out. The schools were directly under the control of the Education Department and the most recent report of the medical officer of health for the district showed a gratifying improvement in the standard of health, nutrition, cleanliness and general tidiness. The high standard of handwork in such schools as Ruatoria 011 the East Coast was referred to by Mrs. Fraser, who said that the teachers in these schools —usually a man and wife—-were-'more than teachers; they were doctors and advisers to the whole community. Mrs. Fraser also gave details of Maori schools in the Rotorua district. The observations of Dr. Helen Don 11, school medical officer in the district, showed that the teeth of those children who were given milk daily were in far better condition than those of children in schools where, through difficulties about pasteurisation, the milk was not yet distributed. At the Horohoro School. 11 miles from Rotorua, a most interesting experiment was being carried out. continued Mrs. Fraser. Eight acres of land were attached to the school, and a number of cows, l(?nt by the parents, were grazed there. The milk was sent to the factory and 60 per cent of the cheque went into the savings bank accounts of the hoys, the remainder going to the school funds. The affairs of the school were managed by a school council of the children.