NEW ZEALAND DOES NOT LEAD IN EDUCATION

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 150, 15 September 1927, Page 18

NEW ZEALAND DOES NOT LEAD IN EDUCATION

INCREASE IN SPENDING COMPARISON IS DIFFICULT (THE SUN’S Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, Tuesday. WHILE expenditure on education in New Zealand compares very well with that in other countries, this Dominion by no means leads the world in its devotion to the training of its children. In making this statement in the annual report which he presented to the House of Representatives fo-day, the Minister of Education, Hon. R. A. Wright, points out that it is difficult to make a comparison between the cost of education in New Zealand and in other countries, because the systems vary. In New Zealand, almost the whole cost comes from the Consolidated Fund, whereas in most other countries a large proportion comes from local rates, endowments, private and other sources, and the systems of education also vary. The Minister quotes a table giving the cost of elementary education per pupil in a number of countries, and it is shown that the cost is highest in the Transvaal, where it is £2l. New Zealand is seventh, with £l3. The question is frequently asked whether an expenditure of £4.000,000 a year is justified, when the pre-war expenditure was only £1,500.000, but it must be remembered, says the Minister, that owing to the depreciation in the real value of the pound, the present expenditure of nearly £4,000,000 is equivalent to only £2,500,000 in 1914. Further, the number of pupils has increased from 208,693 in 1914 to 264,601 in 1926, and if the increased numbers are taken into consideration, the increased cost would have been from £1,500,000 to £2,000,000. Again, in every enlightened country there have been many developments in the past 12 years, and provision of facilities for education has been greatly improved, particularly in the direction of postprimary and higher education. New Zealand cannot afford to fall behind other countries, and has had to keep pace in these and other respects. In the period referred to, the numof pupils attending secondary and other high schools has increased from 10,428 to 23,210, and the number ° r university students has risen from . It has been necessary at the same time to increase the expenditure on students’ fees and allow-a-n„r-ev:. ? t the training- colleges from to £123,250: on educational buildings from £122.940 to £550 954and on superannuation for teachers from £17,000 to £71.428.