SCHOOL COMMITTEES’ ASSOCIATION.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20690, 12 April 1929, Page 12

SCHOOL COMMITTEES’ ASSOCIATION.

QUARTERLY MEETING. The quarterly .meeting of the School Committees’ Association of Otago was held' in the Education : Board’s Buildings last night. Mr R. Armit occupied the t chair. A letter was received from Mr W. B. M'Ewan, city librarian, stating that under the City Council’s scheme of school libraries nine schools had been supplied with books, as follows: —Upper Junction 50 volumes. Pine- Hill -45, Wakari' SO, Leith Valley 60, Maori Hill 140, Caversham 170, North-East Valley 180, Forbury 220, Anderson’s Bay 135, The writer referred to the success of the scheme, and said that it was. worth noting that ■ every, book had been returned in a condition which showed- that the scholars had-been careful when the books were, in their charge.—The chairman said it was very pleasing to-receive such a favourable report, and it was decided to write-and' thank Mr M'Ewan for the interest' he was showing in- the movement. A letter 'was received from the Minister of Education (Mr 'H. Atmorc) stating. that in the proficiency examination, the certificates were not determined by the final examination alone, but upon consideration of the pupil’s work since the beginning of the year. He did not think that the chances of success of a candidate had been adversely affected by the course that had been followed, —Mr A. T. M'lndoe said the point he bad brought up previously was that in some districts the ■ examinations had been put forward a' month compared with other places, and as a consequence pupils had been handicapped. Probably, however, the situation would not occur again.—-The. letter was received. Mr W. Kindlcy, secretary of the St. Clair School Committee, wrote regarding the many changes in the - school books. It seemed as if they were never going to reach finality.—The chairman said they were-powerless in the matter. They were, however, in sympathy with the protest by the St. Clair School. They had now been told that the. last change was the final one.—Mr H, Halliday said he was strongly opposed to any exploitation of the school. books by printers.- He was also .strongly opposed _to any in-', spector in-,New Zealand being a shareholder of a printing firm which was turning out school hooks.—Other members strongly protested against the changes in the books, pointing out that - pirents - with large families particularly were . penalised.—-Mr Halliday moved—“ That this association forward a protest to the Education Board regarding the -constant changes in the school books, with a request that it be sent on to the department, and that a copy of if also be forwarded to each association.”. .. Jfe/Baid that small changes were made in some of the books, and that "as a consequence new b6oks had to be secured by the • younger members of a family inst.ead of their -beiiip:- able to-use the oW books,— The motion was carried unanimously,' Mr W. Wright moved—“ That the matter of inspectors holding shares'in print--ing firms turning out school books be referred to the executive, and that Messrs , H. Halliday and W. H. Steele be asoci, ated with ‘ the ■ executive.”—The motion was carried unanimously. ,A letter was received from the department stating that in future delegates attending the ’ annual conference of associations would have their expenses paid. The department ajsp forwarded a ' sum of £3B- to' meet the expenses -of the dele- ' gates this year.- - - " ;■ On the motion of Mr Wright, it was decided to write to the principals of the Otago High Schools asking them to' adhere to the primary syllabus in setting sums for the. entrance examinations. ' The resolution was passed in • connection with the giving of sums at . these schools on troy-weight measures, and on the recommendation of - the Education Board that the'protest of .the'association should' be forwarded to!the principals. ■ Dr Garfield Stewart presented a report on the meeting of delegates from school committees recently held in Invercargill.' •He said that-the question of junior high schools had been fully discussed, and the general impression was that the primary . schools should be put.into a thoroughly efficient state first. They had these schools, wanting monetary assistance, and yet they had the department wishing to thrust another scheme on them-at the cost of . thousands of pounds. It -had been stated at Invercargill that the capitation paid for primary pupils was 6s and for secondary pupils- something like 50s. - The speaker said'.that in . Auckland the amount raised by the committees was just on 2s per head. The province that , led in New Zealand was Southland, with 4s. In Taranaki the amount was 3s, Wanganui 3s 2id, Hawke’s Bay 2s, Wellington Is 7d, Nelson Is 7d,' and Canterbury 2s 3d, They then came to Otago .at Is 2d.' He thought they should try to increase the enthusiasm in school work in Otago. The leakages that occurrerd in their primary schools should first be remedied instead o' launching out into some" theoretical scheme that would involve the expenditure - of hundreds of thousands -of pounds. The conference had decided that, the scheme of opcn-aip schools should be gone further into. The speaker dealt with other 'business carried, out at. the conference, and' said he was sure it would do much to enthuse the parents. It had also had an influence—indirect maybe—on the Minister of Education,—Mr Armit also gave some details of the business carried out.— ' The, delegates were accorded a vote of thanks for their reports. ADDRESS BY MR BRUGH.

Mr W. R. Brugh, a member of the Education Board, cave an address on his travels round the world. He said his first journey away from New Zealand * was 18 years ago. when he went to Java and the surrounding islands. Java was the second most populated place in the world. Its population wag round about 35,000,000. He understood that Belgium was tbe most populated. The speaker referred to the life of Java* and drcw v a comparison with 1 what he had seen on his second visit in 1920. Dealing with . Singapore he said the city - was a monument to the' industry of the Chinese under British rule. He thought every nation- ; °f the world was represented in Singapore. Singapore was also a wonderful, shipping port. On one day he had counted no fewer than 13 vessels belonging ■ to the Blue Funnel Line in the port. Continuing his sketch, the speaker dealt with what he had seen in Bombay, and gave some information' regarding the Parsees. They were considered to be tire Jews of India. They were indeed a most interesting people. The speaker gave details regarding the destruction of the 'bodies of Parsecs >3’, the vultures, and • went on to speak of what he had seen in America, referring particularly to the wheat pit in Chicago. New York had its attractions, but he himself preferred London. One thing that struck the visitor to London was the greenness, of the parks there, but, on the other hand, the trees in Central Park did not thrive. It had ’ been suggested to him .that the reason of the lack of growth in the New ,York Gardens was because the tall skyscrapers ' kept out the sunlight and prevented; 1 the circulation of the air. Exneriences of the speaker’s stay in London were related, and also his visit to Manchester. Manchester was the centre of the most ■ " populous district in Great' Britain. Town after town was linked up and there appeared to be no dividing line. The cotton trade existed in Manchester, he. had been told, because of the moisture in the atmosphere. Without this moisture the mills would not be able to work the cotton properly. From the scenic point .of view he considered New Zealand the finest in the world. Ho did not. say New Zealand was the most beautiful. /He thought England and Scotland -had . greater beauties, but he wffS speaking from tbe scenic aspect when he placed New Zealand in the forefront. He thought the scene that bad appealed to him most on his travels was the view from Stirling Castle. Here they had history and scenery so mixed up that the spectator could not but be thrilled. In conclusion, tlie speaker referred to his visit to Conway. in Wales, and to the graveyard made immortal by Wordsworth’s poem, ■ “We Are Seven.” ■ '