EDUCATION BOARD

Southland Times, Issue 21661, 24 March 1932, Page 5

EDUCATION BOARD

MONTHLY MEETING REPORT ON AGRICULTURAL INSTRUCTION. The monthly meeting of the Southland Education Board was held yesterday, Mr H. Smith, in the absence, through illness, of Mr J. C. Thomson, presiding over Messrs F. G. Stevenson, W. Grieve, L. Evans, S. Rice and J. Campbell. The attendance officer reported as follows for the month of February, 1932:—“During the period returns came in from 180 schools. These contained the names of 92 defaulters of all classes, a good number of whom were excusable through sickness. It was necessary to send out 37 warning notices where no valid excuse was given. Also a number left before they were eligible, some on competency and others, again, although having gained proficiency, were still under 13 years of age. In every case notices were sent advising them to return to school. Only two schools failed to send any statement for the month, viz, Longridge Village and Tussock Creek. The 10 schools with the highest percentage of attendance were: Feldwick 100; Lora Gorge 100; Waipounamu 99.8; Aparima 99.5; Chatton North 99.4; Te Wae Wae 99; Te Tipua 99; Sunnyside 98.9; Scott’s Gap 98.8; Redan Valley 98.7. The attendance at all the schools of Southland opened well for the first month. No school returned its percentages as below 80 per cent, while 159 schools returned theirs as ranging from 90 upwards to a 100. The average percentage for the 180 schools that sent returns was 94.89.” The report was members expressing gratification at the high percentage of attendances shown. Agricultural Instruction. The report for February of the Agricultural Instructor (Mr T. Matthews) was as follows: —“I have to advise that the agricultural work, generally speaking, is progressing smoothly and in not a few instances very pleasing results are being obtained. All garden work continues to show marked improvement. In all instances the schemes of lessons and science experiments are receiving special attention. Early in February the three district high schools under the control of the board were visited with a view to conferring with the secondary school staffs regarding the experimental work proposed for the current year. More recently the schools in the Lakes District were visited and I have once again to make special reference to the outstanding work being done by’ the teacher and pupils of Arrowtown. For quantity and quality of produce in the vegetable section, general neatness and layout of the plots, surrounded by’ neatly trimmed lawns, interspersed with numerous plots filled with a great variety of flowers, this garden must rank amongst the best of its kind in the province; indeed it is doubtful if this school garden could be excelled anywhere else in New Zealand. The social and economic value of such a garden established in the midst of any’ community cannot be gauged in terms of pounds, shillings and pence. In a number of schools, however, with less experienced teachers and changing staffs, there is a much greater need for closer supervision to ensure the standard of work being maintained. In agricultural work as in no other subject, difficulties and problems will keep recurring and if results are to be obtained it is essential that the teachers receive assistance when and where required.” The report was adopted. Wool-classing. Dealing with wool-classing at the Winton District High School, Mr Matthews reported:—“As directed by the board, instruction in wopl-classing has been started under my personal supervision at the Winton High School, and in view of the fact that this is the first class of its kind to be established under the direct control of the board, it is perhaps fitting at this stage that an outline of the proposed course of instruction and its value should be submitted for tho board’s information. At the outset it may be remarked that in a pastoral country such as this, it is rtither remarkable that so little attention has been paid to this most important phase of the farming industry. Agricultural instruction and dairy science have for many years been developed along sound progressive lines, but the pastoral branch of farming (the most important of the three) has been somewhat neglected although it must be noted that in quite a number of our leading secondary schools wool-classing has been taught for many years with considerable success and no agricultural course can be considered as being complete where this subject is not included. The instruction at Winton High School will be conducted along similar fines to that of my other wool-classes in Invercargill, the basis of the instruction being the Bradford system of counts. Arrangements are being made by the local authorities for the use of a suitable woolclassing room in close proximity to the school and it is understood local farmers are surnlying the necessary wool for instructional purposes. Both lecturing and practical work will be undertaken, hence the students will gain a thorough grounding on sound scientific lines not only in the actual classing, but in the growth and structure of the wool fibre and the numerous defects met with. Later (when reasonable progress has been made) the latest research work of our two agricultural colleges will be reviewed and explained particularly in connection with hairiness in the wool fibre and with this object in view I have secured a wool-testing outfit recently patented by the wool research staff of Massey Agricultural College. The students who will receive direct benefit from this training may be divided into three groups as follows: (1) Those who propose to take up wool-classing as a profession; (2) those who intend going on to sheep farms; (3) all commercial students. It is not considered necessary to enlarge upon the value of the instruction to these three groups of students, suffice it to say that at practically every wool sale held throughout New Zealand the buyers have stated that they did not even value thousands of bales, much less bid for it simply because the wool was unclassed and in this connection it has been shown repeatedly by the Government wool expert that farmers are losing hundreds of thousands of pounds annually through the faulty get up of their clips.” The report was adopted.