TECHNICAL EDUCATION AT WELLINGTON.

Otago Witness, Issue 3348, 15 May 1918, Page 15

TECHNICAL EDUCATION AT WELLINGTON.

SUGGESTED EXCHANGE OF SITES. WELLINGTON, May 8. A deputation waited upon the Minister of Justice to-day to emphasise the need for improved accommodation for the Technical School. It requested that the portion of the Mount Cook sito at present occupied by the Departments of Justice and Defence should bo made available for educational purposes. Mr Wilford, replying, said he realised the importance of the matter and wished to give practical assistanco to the men controlling technical education in Wellington. Ho had studied the position aa far as the Mount Cook site was concerned, and fo'und that an area of about three- acres could bo made available at once, and about an acre and a-half additional might be granted later. The- Department of Justice could not part with the land without an equivalent, and the matter would havo to bo adjusted between the Departments of Justice and Education. The Department of Justice urgently needed a reformatory institution for girls, in order that first offender prisoners might be kept out of ordinary prisons; and the Burnham Industrial School was being vacated by the Education Department. Then there was the Te Oi'anga Home. If tho Education Department would give one of these institutions in return for the Mount Cook site, an exchange might bo arranged. Mr Wilford said ho would consult with the Minister of Education at an early opportunity.