BOYS’ HIGH SCHOOL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22196, 24 February 1934, Page 2

BOYS’ HIGH SCHOOL

VISITED BY MINISTER ADDRESS TO THE PUPILS A reminder that while the Government had a certain duty in providing adequate educational facilities in the Dominion those who were enjoying those advantages also had responsibilities was given by the Minister of Education (Mr R. Masters) when ho visited the Otago Boys’ High School yesterday morning. The Minister was welcomed by the rector (Mr H. P. Kidson), who said that Mr Masters was paying his first visit to the school. After referring to his tour of Otago and Southland the Minister stated that in view of the limited amount of money at his disposal he had for some time considered it wiser to remain in Wellington, because, when be travelled, demands were always made for expenditure. No doubt, before he left the school, there would be a request for money. The Minister went on to refer to the advantages that New Zealand, in comparison with other countries, enjoyed with respect to education, and stressed the fact that the Government felt that it had an equal responsibility' towards everybody. Boys in England had to pass a scholarship before they entered a school such as the Otago Boys’ High School, and even then their parents had to pay fees ranging from fC to £2l a year. He wanted the boys to appreciate what was being done for them and to realise that they also had responsibilities. On bis recent visit to America he had found that no fewer than 8000 rural schools had been closed on account of the depression. Many thousands of teachers were unemployed, and in Chicago teachers were rioting because they had had no salary for over 12 months.

The education system in New Zealand, Mr Masters added, had broadened considerably in recent years. A few years ago the system had been largely academic, but to-day it was the desire of the Government to make the curriculum as wide as possible, its aim being to give to pupils the education that would fit them best for their work in life. On a visit to Reefton recently he had found agriculture being taught in the' school. Those who knew Reefton would realise of how much use agricultural instruction would be. Most of the boys would find employment in the mines, and he had therefore made an arrangement by which the School of Mines co-operated in the instruction of the boys. The Minister, in conclusion, urged the boys to take the fullest advantage of their educational opportunities, adding that under present conditions positions were open only to the boys who were most fully equipped. The Minister was accorded a haka by the boys. The chairman of the Board of Governors (Dr G. E. Thompson), in thanking the Minister for his address, drew his attention to the number of boys that the school hall had to accommodate, stating that he would realise why it had been necessary to hold the break-up ceremony outside the school. The Minister had referred to the demands that were made on an impoverished Treasury when he went on tour. The board‘would not disappoint him, and it knew that he would do what he could to help it. The difficulties facing the board in respect to the accommodation of the pupils were explained to the Minister during his subsequent inspection of the school buildings.