CLOSED DOORS

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8364, 26 February 1913, Page 7

CLOSED DOORS

NO ROOM FOR “ FREE PLACES” UNSATISFACTORY POSITION IN WELLINGTON. , “First come first served” has been the motto in the allocation of free places at the Wellington Girls’ College this year. The position was stated in a letter placed before tho Education Board yesterday .by Mr George Flux, headmaster of tho South Wellington School, who wrote: “On behalf of several parents ot children who obtained proficiency certificates at the 1912 examination of this school, I desire to bring to the notice of the board what appears to them and to me an unfair discrimination between pupils of different schools made by tho authorities of the Girls’ College. When our girls with proficiency certificates applied for admission, they were told they could not be accepted because they had not applied for admission on or before December 18th, 1912. Now, we have been advised, for, reasons which are probably known to the board, not to make known the results of the examination until the day of breaking-up (last year December 19th), so that it was impossible for our girls to apply bn or before December 18th. “I am informed, on good authority, that as soon as the examination was over, some schools gave out the results and immediately made application to tho Girls’ College for the admission of their pupils, and that these applicants were admitted on the reopening of the college, while onr girls were penalised as a result of my following out the suggestion of my superior officers. I was totally unaware that any daw had been fixed on or before which applications should be made, and. as far as I can ascertain, no such date was advertised. “If there is not room to accommodate all the proficiency certificate holders applying, then, in fairness, the places should be shared pro rata. As it is, practically all the pupils of some schools have been taken, while all those of other schools have been refused, tho latter for no fault of their own. Some of our girls have been waiting about in the hope of being eventually admitted. Of these some are at home still, while a few have returned to us. Those on whose behalf 1 write ask your board to use its good offices to prevent such discrimination in tho future, even though it may be too late to mend matters this year.” Mr J. G. W. Aitken said numbers of girls from schools that had been shut out were complaining. Although they went down to the Girls’ College on the day they received notice of having passed, they were too late. He wanted to know what principle was followed in letting tho pupils in ? The suggestion was that some girls got word of having' passed very much earlier than others. Mr A. W. Hogg: How many girls were excluded? Mr Aitken; Quite a number. Mr Hogg: It is a very serious thing. Tho chairman (Mr H. Leo) said scholarship-holders had the first claim, with free-plaoo holders next. The Board of Governors of the college had restricted tho number to be admitted, as they were of opinion that the school might bo overcrowded. Miss McLean had been instructed not to take any more pupils. Mr Aitken said that what he wanted to know was why Mount Cook school, which did not know as early as, say, Clyde quay, or vice versa, was shut out of the college ? Mr Hogg considered it was a most remarkable thing that girls passing for higher education should have the doors closed against them in this manner. The chairman: They are not excluded. There is also the Technical School and the Normal School. There is no reason why the Normal School should not be as much taken advantage of. There are vacancies in these two schools, but these people are complaining, not because their children can’t get higher education, but because they can’t get them educated in the way they want to. Mr T. B. Fleming (chief inspector) said that December 18th seemed to have been the date fixed for admissions, but it was unknown to the inspectors. As inspectors they examined on a certain date, and this they could not alter because of a certain date fixed by the Girls’ College for the admission of pupils. The inspectors could not hold themselves responsible for this condition of affairs. It had certainly been said that there was one school in the city which had heard that December 18th was positively to be the closing date, and so tho girls went down in a body and entered their applications. • They thus shut out others from Te Aro, Newtown, Clyde quay, and South Wellington. Mr Aitken: What I want to know is whether this is tho correct system? Could it not bo so arranged that children should be admitted according te marks, and not merely whether they passed or not? Mr Fleming: The method follows the regulations of the department. It has nothing to do with Miss McLean or tho Board of Governors. It would bo far bettor for the college authorities to say there are so many vacancies. I told one girl who had been shut out to register now for next year. Mr Hogg said there was another alternative—whether the difficulty should not be removed by extending the Girls’ College, and thus providing the additional accommodation required. If there was such a scramble going on for admission it was a pity the school could not bo enlarged to receive all tho qualified children from every one of tho schools in Wellington. This matter ought to be seriously considered by tho board. The chairman: I also question whether the number of free places should not be more limited, and only those passed on to secondary education who are well able to take it. Mr Fleming: We propose to harden the proficiency examinations. On the motion of Mr Aitken, the question was referred te the finance committee.