EDUCATION BOARD

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1847, 31 July 1907, Page 47

EDUCATION BOARD

The monthly meeting of the Board was held Thursday afternoon. Present— Messrs Ri. Lee (chairman), A. W. Hogg, M.H.R., T. W. McDonald, W. Allan, J. Kebbell, and. W. G. Buchanan. ; > , • FINANCE. The statement of finances, after providing for payments, showed a debit balance on the buildings and general accounts of ,£IOB4 12s 2d; secondary account, credit, Ail6o 3s; manual and technical account, credit, <£Bl 18s; technical account, credit, <£sß 19s 3d; teacher s’-salaries account, debit, <£l3B 16s sd; deposit account, credit, <£9 Is 6d;. contract liabilities, <£433;.. pay-sheet,- <£8231 7s Id; payments since, last .Board meeting, <£ll9l 4s 9d. - ■ TRAINING OF CADETS. Captain McDonald moved the following resolution, of. which he had given notice: — Tliat, in. view of the fact that our Public School Cadets form a valuable recruiting ground, for our volunteer force*>!it. is, very desirable that tiie training former should be ..on the same litres the latter, so that the two branches might be made to form one homogeneous whole; and; that in order to bring this, about the Education Department he'ashed to endeavour., to arrange for periodical conferences with-the Defence Department. The mover oiit the importance of having every point in the training of cadets oil the same lines as in the volunteer forces. Mr Hogg, in seconding the motion, agreed with the mover as to the_ importance of the training of cadets. From time to time they heard of serious accidents, and the pea-rifle had been tne cause of very great distress • amongst families. If the rifle could be excluded from our schools and harmless implements substituted, parents, especially mothers, would have no reluctance in allowing their boys to become thoroughly good cadets. V Mr Allan pointed out that the weapons now in use in the- public schools were as harmless as a broomstick, ihey were simply capable of snapping percussion caps. The chairman thought the matter was an important one. He observed that Lord Roberts was moving on the same lines in England. ,•'' , ~ Captain McDonald remarked that the adoption of his suggestion would obviate accidents by training the boys to the use of arms. _ ' The motion was unanimously adopted.

THE RETIREMENT OF MR EVANS. The chairman stated; in reference to the retirement from the Board of tho Rev. W. A. Evans, that he had written to Mr Evans, on behalf of the Board, thanking him for his past services* and expressing regret that he should have been obliged to sever his connection with the Board. Mr Allan moved that the thanks of the Board be tendered to Mr Evans for the services he had rendered, with an expression of regret that he should have found it necessary to retire. The motion was seconded by Captain McDonald; and carried.

DAIRY INSTRUCTION IN SCHOOLS. Inspector Bate well wrote, drawing attention to the instruction given in practical dairy work at tlie Makomako school. A cream separator and milk tester had been bought by the head teacher, Mr Philip, who had al&o made his own churn and cheesemaking apparatus. He was so much impressed, with the value of Mr Philip's work that he recommended the Board to make a special grant in aid of apparatus. He was credibly informed that six or seven dairy farmers had already decided to get testers of their own' the importance of testing the_ milk of every cow individually having been brought home to them by the experiments carried on at the schopl. The chief inspector (Mr T. R. Fleming), who had introduced the matter, mentioned that the result of the experiments carried out at the school was that some farmers found that what they considered some, of the best cows, in their herd were really the worst. Tie mentioned the matter, as he would like other schools to take the subject upThe Board approved, and agreed to make the special grant, asked tor —<£10. CLEANING SCHOOLS. The Secretary of the Education Department forwarded' correspondence in regard to the cleaning of schools, A letter received from the secretary of the Tim am School Committee drew attention to the fact that for some four or five years the Timaru main school, with an average attendance of between €OO and 700, had been entirely free from epidemics. This was attributed to the mode in which the floors were swept. A quantity of sawdust was damped with a solution of eheep-dip and spread across, the floor at one end of the room, and as it was swept to the other end it gathered all the dust from ■ the floor; also preventing its rising ana. settling on the walls. Prior to the (adoption of this method the school had to be closed' pin several occasions. for measles and mumps and fevers. The Chief Health. Officer (Dr J. M. Mason) expressed the opinion that there was little doubt but that the practice adopted in Timaru had something to do with the keeping away of infection. The usual method of dusting schools simply resulted in shifting the dust. AH schools should. be dusted with a wet fluster, and certainly the practice carried out in Timaru not only really removed the dust, but some measure of disinfection must take place as_ well. One of the great sources of infection in schools, however, was not so much the dust on the floors as tfus desks. Children with measles, scarlet fever, or diphtheria in the early stages might be attending school. They, coughed or sneezed on to the and iu this way Infection was spread. It would L>e _a move in a direction which, wpulci mako very greatly for the diminution oh infectious disease, ip schools if don© away with altogether.: and the cnil-

dren simply used writing pads, which could be destroyed. The dirt which collected between the slate and the wooden border was very often of a most filthy description, He referred to a complaint received from a parent some time ago that in a school in Wellington a child was suffering from scarlet fever. The patient was kept away, from school, but his correspondent’s child was asked to sit at the same desk which had been vacated by the ailing child, and that without any previous disinfection. The Board decided to forward the correspondence to. each school committee apd teacher in the district, at the same time, drawing attention to the advisableness of -using a disinfectant in the water used, for washing the boors. ■ On the motion, of. Mr Allan it was agreed that the . secretary should furnish an estimate to the next meeting of the finance committee of the probable cost ..of supplying paper pads- in place .'of slates to the echoois.- . WORKS AND. FINANCE. Tli© Works and Finance Committee reported : , Your committee reports that, after conference with the Mount Cook School jCpnrmittee, three of the four members {present acquiesced in the Board’s proposal : re latrines. It is therefore recommended that the plans and specifications be prepared in accordance with the Board’s resolution. Recommendations—1. That the following works be authorised : . Mungaroa, drainage; Feather ston, fumigation; Makomako, grant; Shannon, gravelling; Newman, fencing and metalling; Parkvale, residence, papering; Brooklyn, repairs; Mangamahoe, half cost , shed repairs; Levin, residence, repairs and Mangapakelia, river protection; Ivopuaranga, chimney repairs; Pahiatua, residence, roof repairs; Petoile, additional fencing; Fer.nridge, erection of suitable latrines (committee contributing <£ls and labour); Kaiwarra, repairs and alterations (previously deferred); Te Aro, erection of new shed; office, cupboard for di'awings, emmeiator for telephone. 2. That the following be declined—Garterton, introduction of gas into resi(lgiicg . 3. That the following be referred to the-Board—Gladstone, alteration of school and residence. 4. That the Clerk of Works be asked to report on the following—Taita, firegrate, dividing fence and repairs; Greytown, septic tank; Training College, water service. ... . 5. That the following applications be . deferred—Tekomaru, residence; Waikanae, residence. . 6. South Wellington—Renewed request for erection of caretaker’s cottage, Thai, no action be taken. 7. Hutt—Secondary Department: That arrangements be made for transferring th. 6 Secondary Department to rooms at the Hutt provided by Mr Wilford. 8. Masterton—That tlie Clerk of Works furnish plan of new entrance. 9. The committee reports the acceptance of the following tenders: —Erection of school, Chau, L. Arcus and Bon, <£sbo 14s Gd • erection of school, Muhunoa, E. Arcus And Son, <£353 17s 6d; fencing, Terrace, E. A. Dillon, <£3s; repairs and painting, Korokoro South, P. W. Cameron, <£23 10s; fencing, Rongokokako, J. Mead, <£9; twenty forms, Sanders Bros., Ai7 10s. The report was adopted. SCHOOL SITES. The Sites Committee made the following recommendations: —l. That the following be leased—Section 40, Newman, for 10 years; section 11, bloclr 4. Mangahao Survey District, 16 acres 3 roods 8 poles, for seven years, with right of resuming one acre. 2. That the- following be referred to the Board Chamber - lam street, Levin, terms of lease; Pahiatua, request of committed that seven acres be purchased. 3. Terrace: That, m compliance with request of committee, the Board communicate with _ the School Commissioners and - the hospital contributors, with a view to the proposed exchange, whereby the playground area will be increased. 4: Ihwraua: That the bush be preserved in the meantime. 5. / ainui-o-mata. That the thanks of the Board be conveyed to Mr- J. Wakeham for additional land transferred to the Board. • .*■ ' . The report was adopted on the motion of Captain McDonald, seconded by Mr Allan, , ' , Mr Allan asked "that the secretary make inquiries as to the possibility or acquiring a section .at rear of the Mount Cook Girls' School.—This was approved.