TARANAKI SCHOLARSHIPS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21543, 15 January 1932, Page 5

TARANAKI SCHOLARSHIPS

QUESTION OF ENDOWMENT DEPUTATION TO UNIVERSITY SENATE. TJie vexed question of the utilisation of Hue Opaku Reserve Fund, which, as finback as 1868, was set aside by Act of Parliament for educational purposes, came up for discussion at the annual meeting of the University Senate yesterday when a deputation representing educational authorities in the Taranaki district walked on the senate with a request that the {fund should be utilised to a greater extent than was at present the case. This endowment was originally, by Act of Parliament, intended for general educatictnal purposes, but in 1905 legislation was brought down setting the fund aside solelj for the benefit of students in Taranaki. Mr* S. G. Smith, M.P., who headed the deputation, said that the question had now been before thb senate for several years*, and in 1920 representations had been made to the Gpvernment that some portion of the fund should be used for bursaries tenable at Massey College by students from Taranaki. The then Minister of Education had been asked to frame the necessary legislation, hut afterwards a tag was added to the effect that the bursaries should be open to students in the whole of the Dominion. For 20 years Taranaki had tried to get successive Governments to do something that Taranaki thought should be done, and he again asked the senate's assistance. The body be represented had been advised that there were no legal difficulties in the way of the senate agreeing to the proposal. Mr W. H. Moyes, principal of the New Plymouth High School, said that the proposals of the deputation were quite straightforward. It requested the senate to ask the approval of the Minister to amend the present regulations governing the Taranaki scholarships to bring them into conformity with modern requirements. Briefly, the deputation asked for one scholarship per annum in literary subjects, one scholarship in mathematical and scientific subjects, and three agricultural scholarships to be awarded annually, each to be tenable at Massey College. It was also urged that there should be provided! from the residue of the annual income from the endowment and accrued capital .an amount for scholarships to be awardad in conformity with the existing regulations governing Taranaki scholarships. The number of these scholarships should be such as would absorb at least three-qr*irters of the residue of the income of the fund after provision hnc! been made foa- the scholarships previously mentioned. The educational authorities in Taranald felt that some assistance should be given to boys taking up farming, and that picked boys who went to Massey College would, on completion of their course, be of disjunct benefit to the farming community. It had been said that the educa-

tion standard in Taranaki was not as high as in other parts of the Dominion, but he would point out that from his own school 28 boys had taken scholarships since 1912. . Replying to a question by Mr J. A. Hanan whether he would approve of the standard of scholarship in Taranaki being made general throughout New Zealand, Mr Moyes replied that he thought the question hardly a fair one, and added that in examinations some of _ his pupils who came fairly low on the list had actually done better than some of those higher up. Mr L. J. Wild asked if a boy from another province going to a boarding school in Taranaki would be eligible for a scholarship, to which Mr Moyes replied that he would be so long as he had resided at the school for two years. Professor T. A. Hunter said that it seemed an anomaly that the fund should be set aside so that one section of the community should be able to take advantage of facilities provided by other people. He moved: “That the senate reaffirms its decision of 1924 and asks the Minister to take action to remove the present anomaly and injustice and to ensure that the revenue from the reserve shall be used for the purposes named i?) the Acts of 1868 and 1874.” Mr von Haast, seconding the motion, said they seemed to have reached a deadlock. The Taranaki people seemed justified in their request, and it seemed to be a dog-in-the-manger policy to hold on to the money and Jet no one have the use of it. Mr T. B. Strong pointed out that the accumulated fund now totalled approximately £39,000, the annual income from which was about £2OOO. It was impossible for Taranaki to use the endowment fully. The Act passed in 1868 meant the fund for the youth of the Dominion, and that of 1905 set the fund aside for the youth of Taranaki. Sir George Fowlds expressed the opinion that the senate was not justified in lending itself to anything so clearly a perversion of an educational endowment. It should not countenance the present position. and then whatever happened it could not bo hold responsible for holding up the funds. Some day they might get a Government strong enough to do the right tiling. The motion was carried.