SCHOOL ATTENDANCE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1680, 11 May 1904, Page 77 (Supplement)

SCHOOL ATTENDANCE.

CAUSES OF DECLINE. SOME CONFLICTING VIEWS. Reference Avas made at several meetings of householders in the city school districts to the unsatisfactory nature of the school attendance, and particularly to the falling-off in tfie number of pupils in the infant classes. One headmaster in reporting to the committee of his school ascribed the cause in part to the declining birth-rate, and partly to the fact that builders and land-holders did not erect a sufficient number of new houses in his district. It Avould appear that the causes of the decline in echool attendance are as about as variable and debatable as those of the diminishing birthrate. Naturally the latter affects the former*, but there are other causes. Discarding the statistical information that population is rapidly increasing, and that the birthlate is beginning to pale into insignificance, there is the broad, unanswerable fact that attendance at many of the effy schools has seriously diminished, although the number of births in Wellington has greatly increased —speaking numerically—in recent years. A representative of the "Mail” intervieAved the headmasters of the various schools last week for the purpose of obtaining their opinions on the subject, and the substance of their views is given below. In regard to the "absent infant” question, it is well to note here that, according to a return furnished by the Registrar of Births. Marriages and Deaths, the actual number of births m the Wellington district has consistently increased. The figures shoAV that in 1896 the births registered numbered 1238, m 1897 1305, in 1898 1304, in 1899 1315, in 1900 1330, in 1901 1435, in 1902 1404, and n 1903 1632. The births in Wellington city, exclusive of suburbs, from 1898 to 1902 were*. In 1898 1065, in 1899 1036. in 1900 1127, m 1901 1150, and in 1902 1126. With these figures before him, the reader is free to draiv his oavii conclusions from the. statements appearing beloAV. DUAL CAUSES. Mr Grundy, headmaster of 'the Clyde quay Scnool, unhesitatingly said one reason for the decrease in attendance at nis place of tuition Avas caused by tne empty cradle, but considered there were other causes at Avoir k. He averred that there were scores —yes hundreds —of children in Wellington not attending school at all. "There are no means noAV of getting £juch children to attend,” ■ he _ saixt. Ihe

truant inspector has resigned, and good results in other directions can boav only, be looked for from the teachers’ indivD dual efforts. I have no reason, to complain about absentees,” ho went on tp eay. "Last Aveek the percentage of attendance Avas not beloAV 90 per cent, in any single clans, and in one case it wa® as high as 98 per cent.” Unlocking a drawer Mr Grundy produced the school rolls for yearly period® extending as far back ass 1896. TLe fob lowing table shows the falling-off in the attendance of the loAver classes last yeat* compared Avith 1896: — 1896. 1904. Under six years 74 45 Six and seven years ... 72 72 Seven and eight years 116 82 Total 262 199 In other classes the attendance has alstj decreased, but not to such a marked gree. Mr Grundy Avas emphatic about the wasteful lives of certain childreiL whom, he said might be seen going to the baths' every day in summer. “If ther& Avas anything approaching efficient campaigning to get children into the schools —children avlio ougiiL to attend and don’t —onr schools would be crowded. To my mind,” he concluded, "it is the first duty of the Education Board to see that children of school age attend.” SUBURBAN LIVING. A desire to live in the suburbs wa® suggested bv Mr C. Watson, headmaster of the Te 'Avo school, Willis street, d® one of the principal factors in the reduction of pupils at the city schools The decline at his school, he said, haa been infinitesimal, but he expected thq roll number to go doAvn considerably in the future. Ho backed up his opinion with the .information that, while Wei? lington schools were suffering in too matter of atendance, the number of pupils at the Khandallah, and Brooklyn school had greatly in* creased. DISORGANISED BY EIRE. The headmaster of the Terrace school (Mr MacMorran) said a falling-off hacl been noticeable in the attendance at his school, but it was mainly attributable to the fire Avhich recently destroyed the old building. In 1896, the number o£ pupils on the roll was 603. In 1903, six months aftei the fire, it stood at 481, and to-day the children attending th© school numbered 540. PARENTAL NEGLIGENCE. "The cause?” exclaimed Mr T. H« Gill, headmaster of the NeAvtoAvn school. Simply carelessness on the part of par? ents—a want of . appreciation of the value of education. In the rigorous climate of Otago and Westland the average attendance is much higher than it is in Wellington.” He said the excuses tenderod in justification of non-attend-ance were i nvariably of a most trivial 1 nature—Mary Ann had a cold and Jane Beatrice was required to run messages. Last Monday morning broke dull and cloud v. There Avere a few drops of ram. Result—2oo pupils were absent that day! The attendance at the Newtown school was 947 in 1900. For reasons which have already been freely discussed m tne press, it fell to 832 in 1902 At Present there are 875 scholars on the roll. No amount of scolding or advice seems to affect the irregularity m the attendance. 'Absent’ notices are sent out, but they are enthusiastically disregarded. M£ Gill Avent on to say— I would like to, know hoAv it compares with the aveiage attendance in secondary schools where pupils are obliged to pay for tbeir tuition?” The reporter could not inform him and passed on. TURNING PUPILS AWAY. "Overcrowded!” This was the answer made by Mr G. Flux, headmaster of the South Wellington (Rintoul street) school. "We are turning away seven or eight pupils every day—we can’t go beyond the number the school is stipulated to accommodate.” TAventy-five per cent, of the children on th.- roll attend irregularly, and it is Mr Flux’s opinion that this state of affairs, as Avell as the abmiute non-attendance of scores of children, Avill not be remedied until tip!V Education Board seriously grapples w'ui the question. SUMMED UP. On the whole our representative received the impression that the probable effects of the declining birth-rate hadnot entered seriously into the minds' of many of the teachers. Some, of course, viewed it with alarm, but others eschewed the question. The buoyancy of the birthrate is only a secondary consideration compared Avith that of getting to school children who ought to attend, but don’t.