"A PIECE OF IMPERTINENCE."

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19202, 19 June 1924, Page 3

"A PIECE OF IMPERTINENCE."

CHAIRMAN OK EDUCATION BOARD HITS BACK. REFUSES TO TURN THE OTHER CHEEK. At yesterday’s meeting of the Otago Education Board a letter from Mr S. Mollison, lion, secretary of the North School Committee, Oamaru, was read us follows: —I am instructed by the North School Committee to forward to the board the following paragraph from the bead master’s report and request that attention may be given thereto: •'Three Canterbury inspectors visited the North School on May 22 and, 23. Chief Stuckey, who is chief inspector of Wanganui district and is temporarily stationed in Canterbury, and Inspector Haslain, formerly of Wellington, were scathingly critical of Otago School furniture.” “Wc are,” they say, ‘‘3o years behind the times.” As far us the criticism applies to the infant room 1 arn afraid they are right, and the use of modern infant room methods necessitates flat floors and movable furniture. Tho Chairman (Mr Wallace) said that if tho inspectors were going to judge tho quality of (he furniture in their schools after an inspection of one school they showed mighty little judgment. Tho furniture in some of their schools was right up-to-date. Otago could always say that it was not a bankrupt board at any rate, and he knew that some boards could not say that.—(“Hoar, hear.”) Mr Horn said that one or two of their schools ware pretty bad. The Chairman : They have struck one of the worst of our schools. Mr Wallace went on to say that, they were doing their best to keep their schools up-to-date. If they tried to put new furniture into every school they would bankrupt the department and themselves as well. He wanted to defend their board from the Director of Education and tho charges made by the northern inspectors. The director had told them last year that if the board had done its duty every school would have had new furniture, as had been the case in the North, Island. Ho would just like to point out that the Hawke’s Bay Board had stated it would cost it £6OOO, and it was having to adopt the practice of doing a little at a time, as Otago was doing. If the North School head master’s report was correct he thought it was a piece of impertinence on the part of the inspectors who made it. They could understand that when old schools were being remodelled tho question of new furniture would receive every attention. There were some people who perhaps favoured the injunction to turn the other cheek when they wore attacked, but not him. Ho wanted to hit back as soon as possible. The discussion then dropped.