EDUCATION BOARD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 3255, 12 July 1872, Page 3

EDUCATION BOARD.

I ITie statutory half-yearly ineeting of | Board was held on WeVlnes- I jlsiy, when there were prdfi6nt,llis'Houour i the Superintendent (in the chair), Messrs < Bathgate and Eeid. , ; < > After the minutes of tho previo(i«meet- i ing were rend and confirmed; JMjrJsßaiT, \ M.P.C., and Mr Be veridge attended as > a deputation from the inhabitants of Mornington, and presented resolutions which had been passed at a public meeting held qi\ the *22nd ult. The substance «f these resolutions was that-the effect <|f,,the fre- r quent changes of school mistress'which had i taken place was Very prdjudicial t6' the « interests of the fichrtol and pnpiln;' and j that th© Education Board should be re- € quested to order an investigation to be < made ok to the causes of 7»o iniiny clianges in a comp«amt j iy j ely,i?hort"Bijia<^," !^i*^ni6. a A desire was also expressed tliat"arrange- t Micnts should be niade by the Committee , for keeping the school mistress's salary at j £100 per annum. Mr Bcvcridgo gave an 1 account of the circumstances which had led « to the resignation of Miss Stewiirt,ithe:late. a schoolmistress, who had proved herself a*' J v«i7 'efticient and acceptable teachfer.^ The' J district had, however, secured another j lady (Mrs Hay), who was likely to prove J a good teacher; but judging from the | past, the people had no security that her i services would be long enjoyed. There j was a wide-spread' feeling of dissatisfac- <; tion at these frequent changes of school- 1 mistress, and a diistrd tliat rthe real t cause'should be ascertained. Mr Beve- i ridjje argued that in,ft_locality.liko..Morn,-.. > ington, it was of the very highest import- * anofr that; the, «choolmjstre»Br^i?l»lff (h&\ s highly qualified, and should receive evei*y 1 encouragement ; and that if steps wore 5 not taken to bring about a veryj decided s change for the better, in the treatment of the Bchocilmisfcress, the Bchool hadbjttor be closed altogethorV Tlio'Superintend"-' i ent : I think it right to state, in justice ( to tho Committee, that they have allied 1 upon1 me several' .timea^iri-^onnection i with this case, and it was very much } on account of their representations that * the;: Goveniroenfc' introduced! M Bill'jto| i the Provincial Council to enable SchooF * Committees to levy rates fpr the piu-pose j of augmenting the teachers' salaries, and ( otherwise increiiaihg the"e >ffitoi€incy of the schools-;.but 1 regret?vety/mnchthattlie- 4 Bill could not.be, passedLi^KTho! i matter ; was referred to the Inspector of Schools, i with instructions to enquire and report. (1 i Claims on account of repairs wore passed, and referred to the, Government i for payment! ' ..' , ' ' An application was read5 from the : School Committee of Naseby,1 requesting ] the Board's sanction to tho termination pf the- schoohuaster's engagement. There j\vas also read a letter from the teacher, aslcing that the chnvges.agaiustjum might |be ""distinctly specified. In reply to a question, Mr Hislop eaid-a similar-re--quest hiid been made by the r Coiamitjtee a. •fW years; ago in regard to tho feain^ teacher; hridthjit'ftfter-'hejirih^'liifl (Mr (Hislop^) ropoii on the state of tlie school, jthc Board did uot feel warranted in complying with the Committee's request. fit, was resolved that the Inspector be instructed to examine the sphool, and,, jreporfc as soon as convcjiient. ': A letter was read, from i Waikiyi School •Committee, "staling' 'tliat' 1 the Comipittee •were equally divided as to the election of ia school master, and request jug, tl^e, Board ke/ilittJko the" selection. It was■ reKnVeii; !thj,t tJie Committee be" infonued ,that ' flegaltobligation to appoint a scihoolroaster. rests with the Coirtttiittee ;. and-thai after; Iperusal of the document* forWArded byIthe Committee, the Btuadihftve.no hesitetioniu recommending Mr M'Donald as the most suitable applicant for the office. \ The clerk to the Grove Bush School < fCommitteo wrote challenging the accuracy joffa^ieport,' by the Enspeetcon relating * fa* that locality. The Secretary reported* 'that in compliance with thb ■CTnspeetor's Srcquest he had asked'!<«*'a'tttptet von'tW* jsul*3ect?'froman'Ofiic^r!rrf'-tWd'"Gdvernmeut :at Invercargill. The consideration of the .letter was postponed, j \ .^VDnemoKbl was presented ftom j at South Riverton > requesting itssistalkdv towards the maintenance of '^*cKbol for young children in' that localifyf It wrsis Iresolvcd that*the x Board' adKere to,its, ■ | former decision with i^'gard, t'O'ti^Blliyer')ton' school.'a.vraugemquta,' " . i',;( ri .'j There was next, considered %a, memorial jfrom settlers at Wild, Bush, asking for the - iestablishtnent'iof a>»chot>l'there, instead 1 i of the sphool at present-, held jat Gjummie's , rßusl^' on' the ground' that the" pfoposed •• -school atWild Bush wdnld Be mtichmbrfe' l centraland suitable,;/The B^ard'de- 1 » clined to niake a)iy change at presishtj^but, I :, instructed tlie Inspector to jnalce'em^iry; $ i into. Uie circumßtJinces. of, .ttw, l^cahferV^t; f \ his next.visit, axi(ltb.vrepprt.'n •■c:',:n«-< j i« < The»lnspector, submitted 3 the proposed chaugOiof flchooL site vin-tlit) i Kaikorai dietrict.s ilt ;was :resf»lv«di th«fe 3 the 'boundaries of thfr educational dißtricW b of Kaikorai aiid: mtkan;l)e ;^tejga;*i

the suburban townships of Linden/ &'&, and that the .site W towudijp» ?f o| Lmden, mentioned la'the'inspectors report, be approved of. It was explained that the proposed new site is situated near the

bend of tlie Halfway Bu«h;road, below the house formerly; kn6wja:;*i||l the Shepherd's Arms Hotel, would, comprise one aero of land described { as dry and level, with a fine exposure to the sun; and also, that the re-adjustment of boundaries would necessitate the immediate "election of School' Committees for tho'schobl districts pi Kaikorai and Waikari as reconstituted. | Applications frojn tlie. School. Committees of Woodlands, Outnira, Queenstown, 'Palmerston, Waikouaiti, Pleasant,,, River, and Kakaniu,:for aid*towaru*s the erection, or enlargement of ■ school; buildings," -were Srefcrrcd to tlie Government.. ■

■ The application of the Waikouaiti School Committee, for permission to retain a portion of the school fees for citrrient expense^ was agreed-; to ; and the requests of the School- Committees of. Palmei-ston |md Wethcrstones, in regard to the salary of the schoolmistresses, were complied With. " ,' .;.","' , ;., A memorial from the settlers of Papakaio district, asking for. the, erection of a school in ihat locality, was favourably entertamed*"and~ referred- to- the Government. , *_ >" 2 ';" r', .-1" i i ! On the report of the Inspector of BchooLs, certificates of competency were granted -to the following--mentioned; teachers at Invcrcargfll:—^-Mrs CharloJssi M'lvor. Messrs A! M'Donald and Cooke, second class ; and 3tx- George ' Brown, third class. ■ ' ! '-' <-

second class; and jtfr George Brown, third class. ' ' •' '- TJie transference and pnb-letting of emrie ' Edttcatuni "Iteservds were1" sane-" tioned., ' ; in reply to questions from the Inspector of .School?, it vraa resolved that •no' Athenaeum, or other Public Library, shall receive a Free grout of books beyond the aggregate Value of £150, and that expenditure on books, only* .and. not on magazines, newHpajjera, or other periodicals, shall be taken into account by the Hoard as entitling to a froe grant. ■ A. letter waa read from the Green .Island School Committee, containing' a resoln-, ti»n of the Committee to the * effect that the attondancofof pupils atid the receipts from school-fees wouldnot wan-ant them in""emi>loyiriJß a schpolmislrcflß. There was also read a letter-rYtim the teacher, objecting to the Goruuvittee'fi ]jroposaL The letters were recoived, but the Board did not consider it necessary to t;iko any action in the nia^te^. r> » i. , ,-, (< . - v .a Aftex djilyising'of a few' mt{tter« 6^ routine, the meeting waa adjourned.