CONSOLIDATION OF SCHOOLS

Southland Times, Issue 23767, 15 March 1939, Page 15

CONSOLIDATION OF SCHOOLS

RESIDENTS PROTEST . AT RYAL BUSH POSSIBLE EFFECT ON GRADE Strong disapproval of a proposal to establish a school bus service to Makarewa through the Ryal Bush school district was expressed at a meeting of Ryal Bush householders last night. A motion of protest was carried and it was decided to ask for a departmental investigation into the scheme for consolidation of the North Makarewa school with Makarewa. There was an attendance of about 50 householders, Mr J. C. Buxton being chairman. The chairman said the good attendance showed that the people of the district were taking a keen interest in the welfare of the district. Mr A. E. Cocker said the first move for consolidation of the North Makarewa school with Makarewa began about a year ago when a request was made for a bus service to take the children to Makarewa. The Southland Education Board must have been aware that the proposed bus route for the consolidation would seriously affect the attendance at Ryal Bush, but the policy of the board throughout the proceedings had been to ignore the Ryal Bush committee. The first information received by the committee had been the publication of an advertisement calling tenders for the new bus service. The committee immediately forwarded a protest to the Minister of Education (the Hon. P. Fraser) and the inauguration of the bus service had been delayed in the meantime. VOLUNTARY CONSOLIDATION “In October last when the Minister was in Invercargill I waited on him and discussed the position,” said Mr Cocker. “Anyone who has given the matter any consideration will agree that consolidation of small country schools is greatly to the benefit of the education of the children, but it should be done according to a properly prepared plan. The Minister said his policy was one of voluntary consolidation and so far he had not encountered any trouble. I told him then quite plainly that . it seemed to me that his policy was just ‘rafferty rules.’ The aim should be for all children to be able to attend four or five-teacher schools.” The settlers of Ryal Bush considered that their requirements could be better met by the establishment of a bus service to their school. This would be advantageous in that it would raise the grade of the school. The following petition had been circulated in the district and had received widespread support:— The undersigned residents of Ryal Bush and North Makarewa desire the proposed consolidation of North Makarewa school with Ryal Bush school on the grounds that (a) Ryal Bush geographically is best suited for such consolidation; (b) Ryal Bush school buildings, being sound and modern with grounds that compare more than favourably with others in Southland are ideal for consolidation purposes: (c) the Ryal Bush school will suffer in grade and staffing if the consolidation of North Makarewa takes place elsewhere. The secretary of the board (Mr H. T. Thompson) had said in a telephone conversation that the bus service would not affect the Ryal Bush school at all. The fact remained that there were 11 children on the road covered by the bus service and it was not to be expected that those children would continue to attend at Ryal Bush. The number that would leave would reduce the grading to a sole teacher school and the number leaving at the end of this year would not be replaced. BOARD CRITICIZED Mr Cocker declared that the board had not even accorded the Ryal Bush committee British justice or common decency. The committee had been ignored. It had received only one communication from the board and that was in a reply to a demand for a statement of what the board intended to do. The Makarewa school did not need to be built up. The attendance had already been increased at the expense of the Ryal Bush school. Mr Cocker then moved the following motion: “That this meeting of householders of Ryal Bush and North Makarewa school districts strongly protests against the action and intention of the Southland Education Board of running a bus through the ’Ryal Bush school district for the conveyance of children to the Makarewa school thereby jeopardizing the grade of the Ryal Bush school.” In seconding the motion, Mr P. Cody said the committee had been treated with contempt by the board throughout. The Director of Education (Mr N. T. Lambourne) had said that a one-teacher school of about 30 pupils was the worst type of school. Yet this was the type of school into which the board proposed to convert the Ryal Bush school. There appeared to be no serious demand for the proposed consolidation of North Makarewa and certainly no need for it. The chairman read a letter from the board stating that it was not intended to interfere with the attendance at Ryal Bush. Its proposal was that a bus service be established for the conveyance of pppils to the Makarewa school and that parents of pupils attending at Ryal Bush, if they saw fit, could allow their children to travel by the bus. The board was definitely advised that with one exception the parents of children attending at North Makarewa thought the children should be taken to Makarewa.

Mr B. Henderson, of North Makarewa, said that the first application for consolidation had been made without any intention to take children from Ryal Bush. IMPARTIAL VIEW OF BOARD Mr J. Hargest, M.P., a member of the Southland Education Board, said he was not completely familiar with the position as he had not been able to attend all the meetings of the board. He wished to give an assurance that no slight had been intended to the Ryal Bush committee. The board had not been intentionally discourteous to the committee. The board had no preference for any school in Southland. It was only L. cases where there were differences o' opinion among districts that disputes occurred. The board had recently received a deputation from Ryal Bush protesting against the proposed consolidation, but it had also received a strong deputation from North Makarewa demanding consolidation to Makarewa. The settlers of North Makarewa were determined to join Makarewa so that their children would be closer to the dental clinic. Consolidation was never attempted unless the settlers were nearly unanimously in favour, but where the settlers obviously desired consolidation the board could not resist the demand. “The board has no desire to interfere with Ryal Bush,” said Mr Hargest. “We want you to retain your twoteacher school.”

Mr Hargest said the question arose whether the parents living close to the new bus service would remain loyal to the Ryal Bush school or would take advantage of the bus service. Mr Cocker said that in the consolidation of the North Makarewa with Maka-

rewa it was not necessary to run a bus service into the Ryal Bush district. The Ryal Bush committee had made application to the department for a bus service within its own district which would increase the grade of the school to a three-teacher school immediately. There were only about three householders in North Makarewa who were opposed to consolidation to Ryal Bush. It was unfair that those three householders should decide the destiny of the Ryal Bush school. MAINTENANCE OF GRADE Mr Cody said Mr Hargest had said that the board wanted to maintain the grade of the Ryal Bush school, but it appeared that there was no desire of the board to raise the grade of the school. The board seemed to be more keen to lift the grade of the Makarewa school. Mr Hargest said the board had no desire to raise the attendance at Maka-, rewa at the expense of another school. If another solution could be arrived at he would give all possible assistance in an inquiry from' the settlers of North Makarewa whether they were prepared to send their children to Ryal Bush. The motion was carried with two dissentients. A motion endorsing the protest of the Ryal Bush committee and calling for an investigation by a departmental officer and discussion among the committees concerned was carried. Mr Cody moved: “That"this meeting of householders of the Ryal Bush school emphatically protests against the action of the Southland Education Board in attempting to institute a bus service through the district without consulting the Ryal Bush School Committee or taking into consideration the effect on the grade of the school.” ■ The motion was carried. It was decided that a deputation of Ryal Bush householders should wait on the North Makarewa householders to discuss further developments.