“CINDERELLA OF EDUCATION”

Southland Times, Issue 24237, 21 September 1940, Page 6

“CINDERELLA OF EDUCATION”

Southland Need For Better Buildings

BOARD’S INTERVIEW WITH MINISTER

“I feel that Southland is a kind of Cinderella and we are looking to you to act as the fairy prince,” said Mr S. Rice, .chairman of the Southland Education Board, at a conference between members of the board and the Minister of Education (the Hon. H. G. R. Mason) yesterday morning, when the Minister was presented with a list of school buildings and teachers’ residences in the board’s district that, in the opinion of the board, require renewal, alterations or additions. Mr Rice reminded the Minister that some of the buildings had been erected many years ago and, so far as the residences were concerned, at a time when it was not considered necessary to provide bathing facilities in a house. Mr Mason in his reply agreed that it was not right that teachers had to live under conditions as miserable as those described by Mr Rice, and he promised that if it were possible he would pay a longer visit to Southland early in the New Year, when he hoped to have an opportunity of inspecting some of the country schools. Mr Rice said that this was Mr Mason’s first visit to Southland in his capacity as Minister of Education, and he wished to take the opportunity of congratulating him on his appointment to such an important position. The Southland Board had a vast area to handle, covering 5000 square miles and stretching from Wanaka in the north to Stewart Island in the south. The Minister would therefore understand that the board encountered great difficulties in its work, but he hoped and believed that in this work the board had given satisfaction to the Education Department. PROGRESS OF EDUCATION In reply, Mr Mason said he had not been long Minister of Education, but every day he was becoming more impressed with the magnitude and importance of the office His present visit to Southland was only a brief one, and he would have liked it to have been longer. He hoped, however, to become acquainted with the more pressing problems and also to find a solution for them. Referring to the future progress of education, Mr Mason continued, he hoped that the work of the education boards would be more important than it had been in the past, and that in the near future legislation would be passed giving the boards greater responsibility. In spite of the war they must keep on with the job of improving the educational facilities of the country, though perhaps not at the rate that would have been possible if the war had not broken out. However, he thought that education was the last sphere in which there should be curtailment owing to war conditions. In the important work of education he earnestly desired to have the co-operation of the education boards, and he would endeavour to reciprocate that co-operation to the ut-' most INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL Mr Rice said there was a feeling in Southland that, because they were a long way from headquarters, they did not always get a favourable deal. For a number of years now they had been endeavouring to have an intermediate school established in Invercargill. The. plans were so far advanced that tenders had been called, but the matter was still held up, and they felt that this was not quite fair considering that all other education districts in New Zealand had either one, two or three intermediate schools, while Southland did not have one. An intermediate school for Invercargill was a crying need at the present time, for temporary accommodation had had to be provided at schools in the city for children who should be at an intermediate school. He understood that there was a proposal to cut down the plan for the intermediate school at Invercargill. He hoped this would not be done, as he did not wish to see the building hacked about and spoiled. Besides, it would not be an economic proposition for the Gov- - ernment to put up a sort of makeshift building.

Mr Mason said there would be no question of temporary buildings being put up at the intermediate school. TEACHERS’ RESIDENCES Dealing with the more urgent works requiring to be done in the board’s district, Mr Rice said that a new school and teachers’ residence were required at Waikaia. The school building was full of borer and every time a window was put up a cloud of dust rose. The teacher’s house was also old and done, and it was too low, there being a bank at the back above the level of the floor. The teacher’s residence at Mossbum was a three-roomed shack; that at Pine Bush was a tworoomed shack occupied by a married teacher, and that at Scotts Gap was a small three-roomed residence with no conveniences at all. ‘ Mr Rice said that there were quite a number of other schools and teachers’ residences in the board’s district that required attention, and it was very difficult to discriminate between them and decide which were the most urgent. For example, only that morning the secretary of the board had received a petition about the Wyndham school which was built as far back as 1875. There was strong feeling in* Wyndham over the condition of the school. However, this was only one case, and he would like the Minister to spend a week in Southland to make an inspection of the country schools. . Mr Mason: I shall try to get down here as soon after Christmas as possible, perhaps in February, and spend more time in your district. Mr Rice: If you see the schools you will realize that in some of them the children are not getting a fair chance at all. Mr Mason said he had to visit many parts of New Zealand, and it was not possible for him to spend in any of them as much time as he would like. However, he felt sympathetic about teachers’ residences. He did not see why teachers should live under such miserable conditions as had been described. SCHOOLS VISITED Accompanied by members of the Education Board and Mr W. M. C. Denham, M.P., Mr Mason then set out on a tour of inspection of a number of schools in the city. The first visited was the new Surrey Park school. Mr Mason was told that this school was a monument to his predecessor, Mr Fraser, and that it was hoped that the proposed intermediate school would be a monument to him (Mr Mason). The party next visited the site in Tweed street that has been secured for the intermediate school. The Minister was informed that the area of the site was over five acres. The largest school in Invercargill, South, was next on the itinerary. The j

roll number, the Minister was told, was more than 800. The Minister was shown the temporary accommodation that has had to be provided because there is no intermediate school for the older pupils. The fact that the school has no proper playground and that the children have to use a public reserve opposite was pointed out to the Minister. On leaving the school Mr Mason remarked that he had been much impressed by the bright appearance of the children. At St. George school, which was next visited, Mr Mason was shown two class rooms which are particularly cold owing to their southerly aspect. He was told that the trouble could be overcome by including in the rooms a corridor on the north side and building a new corridor on the south side. Mr Mason next visited Tisbury school. A plan for adding a new class room, a corridor the length of the school, an office and a teachers’ retiring room was explained to the Minister. It was stated that extra accommodation was required as the roll number was already 134 and was increasing. The ministerial party then returned to town, where a visit was paid to the Southland Girls’ High School. Mr Mason spent a considerable time there and was shown over the building by the lady principal, Miss A. Eastwood, and the chairman of the board of governors, Mr R. M. Strang. He was also shown the small area at the school available to the girls as a playground. The last school visited was the Techlical College and there the chairman of he board (Mr J. H. Reed) placed be’ore the Minister the case for new ouildings. Mr Mason, who made a horough inspection of the college, pronised to consider the request carefully. After lunch Mr Mason left for Gore, where he Opened the new technical dock of the High School,