EDUCATION BILL

Southland Times, Issue 20205, 16 June 1927, Page 8

EDUCATION BILL

REASONS FOR INCREASE. MINISTER’S STATEMENT. EXPENDITURE JUSTIFIED. Some of the reasons for the increased expenditure on education during recent, years were cited by the Minister of Education (Hon. R. A. Wright) in the course of his address to the annual conference of the Council of Education, reports the Dominion. The Minister also touched on the question of the size of classes and the policy of acquiring sites to meet future requirements. In 1916-17, said the Minister, the expenditure on education in the Dominion was approximately £1,750,000, in 1921-22 it was £3,462,844, while in 1926-27 it would amount to about £3,903,000, which was an increase of about 14.0 per cent, over the ten years. There were very few who would say that expenditure on education was unjustifiable, and the burden of the criticism levelled in different quarters seemed to be that some of the money could be spent to better advantages. “There is no doubt,” said the Minister, “that some of our primary school classes are too large. That means that more accommodation is needed in order to give relief. I have been anxious to try to conserve the money voted by Parliament for education without impairing efficiency, in order that some of these reforms can be carried out.. . . I am sure the Government is not anxious to cut down the education vote.” COST OF BUILDINGS. Continuing, the Minister said that the building programmes during the eight years since the war had contributed towards the increased expenditure. The amount for buildings over that period was £3,600,000, or an average yearly expenditure of at least four or five times that prior to the war. During the war there was a necessary curtailment in expenditure on education buildings, and when things reverted to normal the leeway had to be made up. That accounted to some extent for the increased expenditure. Next there had been a large expansion in post-primary schools. It was inevitable that expenditure must increase in that direction. Post-primary schools. It was inevitable that expenditure must increase in that direction. Post-prim-ary school pupils had increased from 9000 to 21,000 in ten years, and that increase would continue. Another point to be remembered was the tremendous increase in the actual cost of building. What could be erected for £5OO in 1914 now cost almost £lOOO to build. LOOKING AHEAD. “As far as we have been able,” said the Minister, “we have been pursuing a policy of acquiring land for school buildings ahead of requirements. I have found that if we did not make a purchase of a section when it was reasonable in price, we were called upon later to pay very severely for it. It is ordinary business prudence to buy ahe&d when land is cheap. We have been endeavouring as well to replace some of the old and worn-out buildings.” Proceeding, the Minister said that the secondary school course of instruction required revision to meet the demand for more practical instruction, which would have a more direct bearing on the life of the pupil. That matter was one to which the council should give consideration. Reverting to the size of classes, the Minister said it would be impossible to avoid waste in salaries until the increased accommmodation necessary could be provided. In some schools they had the anomaly of large classes existing alongside small classes. Inspectors would be asked to report on the question as to whether staff modification was necessary. He was convinced that the deliberations of the conference would be productive of valuable results. The Minister was accorded a vote of thanks for his address.