EDUCATIONAL REORGANISATION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23118, 18 February 1937, Page 15

EDUCATIONAL REORGANISATION

OPINIONS ASKED FROM BOARDS SO MUCH WASTE PAPER At the meeting of the Otago High Schools’ Board yesterday afternoon a letter was received from the private secretary to the Minister of Education asking, on behalf of the Parliamentary Committee set up to make preliminary inquiries regarding the education system, for the opinions of the board on the resolutions and recommendations of the Parliamentary Recess Education Committee (the Atmore Committee), which reported in 1930. The chairman (Mr W. R. Brugh) said that the letter had been received during the recess, and a subcommittee consisting of himself, Dr Thompson and Mr J. Robertson had prepared answers to the proposals of the Parliamentary Committee. The secretary (Mr C. R. M‘Lean) said that letters on the matter had been received from the Gisborne High School Board and the. Timaru High School Board. The Gisborne Board simply forwarded a copy of a newspaper report and the Timaru board opposed unification of control. The report of their sub-com-mittee was also strongly opposed to unification. It was decided that the Otago Subcommittee’s report be approved and forwarded to the department. The secretary said that a letter had been received on the matter from the Auckland Grammar School with a copy of its comment. The comment in that report did not agree with some of the comment in the Otago Sub-cOmmittee’s report, but, on the whole, the comment did agree. Mr Somerville 'said that he, personally, did not agree with all the comrpents in the Otago Sub-commit-tee’s report. They were going to have a change in the system—he could assure them of that—but he thought that the reports received from the educational bodies in the Dominion would simply go into the wastepaper basket. There was such a diversity of opinion that the reports would be of no use at all. Dr Thompson said that all that was required at present was to give the secondary schools a chance to put forward their cases. The secretary said that the boards of the secondary schools were simply required to approve or disapprove of the various clauses. The discussion then ended.