COLLEGE EQUIPMENT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23274, 17 February 1939, Page 14

COLLEGE EQUIPMENT

AUTHORITY TO PURCHASE REQUEST BY PRINCIPAL Authority to proceed with the ordering of equipment was sought by the principal, Mr. G. J. Park, in a report presented at the meeting of the Seddon. Memorial Technical College board of managers yesterday. "It may be necessary to order without waiting for the Education Department's reply to our request for a grant," the report stated. "The Government's import restrictions mean that we cannot buy things without import licences, and they must be landed by June 30." The board applied in August for a grant of £5836 to cover the cost of equipment, but it was not expected that the whole of this sum would be granted. It was suggested that until the reply from the department arrived the principal should have authority to purchase items from the list submitted by the staff with the funds in hand. Last year £7200 was spent on equipment, of which the department paid about £4700.

The report further stated that the college had made remarkable progress in improving equipment, although it was still short of that in the best technical schools overseas. That was considered one reason for the growth in the number of students attending the college, which had already increased by over 160 on last vear s figure of 1576. The board decided to grant the authority asked.