THE HIGH SCHOOLS.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 December 1915, Page 5

THE HIGH SCHOOLS.

To the Editor. is to be regretted that the High School Board hns insufficient funds to settle the girls v. boys controversy by building both establishment!). But the Board has been most shamefully hoodwinked for political reasons. J, for one, will remember this next election. lam strongly in favor of the boys' boarding establishment being given preference for the following reasons—]: The present girls*' boardinghouse will hold comfortably all the likely boarders. I understand that not a single girl boarder has been booked for next year, while, of course, some of the present girls may leave. 2: A good many boys have already been booked, and if the increase of the past three years js maintained there will be boarding accommodation required for well over SO boys. The present accommodation is taxed to the limit with the present 05 or so. 3: The Board has given the headmaster a definite promise to provide him with ordinary domestic comforts, and must, to be honest, stand to its promise. The suggestion to take Archdeacon Evans' house for Mr. Moyes is the height of absurdity. It is asking a man to undertake grave responsibility without affording him the. means of coping with this responsibility. What will happen if a boy or a maid is suddenly taken ill? Will the unmarried and Inexperienced small-salaried resident assistant be required to assume responsibility? Tf I am not greatly mistaken, no headmaster could possibly entertain the proposal. This proposal emanated from someone who has had no experience whatever of the difficulties involved. 4: The Board will be far more likely to make good revenue out of the. extension of the boys' department than by spending £SOOO for some 14 to 20 girls. This revenue would help to supply funds for the ultimate erection of a girls' hostelry.—l am, etc., PARENT.

To the Editor. Sir,—On Monday night, the Board of Governors of the New Plymouth High School will meet to discuss, and probably to decide, very important business. It would appear fairly certain that the Board will vote for the building of the Girls' School; but there is considerable doubt as to whether they will devote the remainder of the funds, or part of them, at their disposal in the construction of a girls' boardinM. establishment. It is not too much to say that the future of the girls' secondary education for many years depends upon the Governors' decision. . The present boarding arrangements for girls are admittedly deplorable, but the evils arising from them are at least minimised by the fact that the two houses which respectively do duty for school and boardinghouse are close together. If, however, no boarding establishment is to be built, it simply means that Itlm Board of Governors expect the lady -principal and the boarders in her care to travel to and fro, a distance of about a mile and a half every day. Even if our climate were dry and genial, the arrangement would be a hardship; but it is not. We are used to long periods of storm weather, lasting for 'weeks, and occasionally months. Would it uot be selfish—l will go further, and Bay criminal —on the part of the Governors to inflict con-

cipal? The specious argument has be«f put forward that a new boys' boarding establishment would prove a profitable undertaking, and help the Board to finance the cost of the girls' school and boardinghouse. I ask why should not a new girls* boarding establishment also be a profitable undertaking and help to finance itself? There is absolutely, no reason why it should not. I will ask your readers to consider one or two broad facts. At the present the whole ,of the Board's school property '•» situated on the High School hill and the, value of it is roughly between .€15,000 and £-20,000. As the Governors are trustees for the girls as well as the boys the girls are entitled to half this property. But since they were ejected three years ago, the girls have been entirely excluded; that i», to-day the boys ' ' have had everything, the girls nothing. At this stage of my letter, I may well exclaim that I marvel that secondary education for the gentler Ben" in New Plymouth survived the blow inflicted upon it in 1012! At the present moment the Governors have the power to redress the balance against the girls, caused by the separation of the two sides. They have now the opportunity to place the girls' establishment on * complete and enduring basis. But will they An it? That is the burning question of the hour. I believe it is an' absolute fact that when Miss Hodges took over her duties here, a pledge w' given that proper school and boarding' ' accommodation would be provided afr' an early date. The fact that subse- ' ouent disabilities prevented. this pledge' from being redeemed has not fa tie". slightest degree, dissolved that pledge. " . In my opinion the Governores willbe.' ~ guilty of a great error of judgmeat--»nd' ' possibly—a grave dereliction of duty ■ if they adopt the mutilated scheme of building a school-house without ad- , • joining boarding accommodation. Th» " Governors can find plenty of justlflea- '. tion for adopting a complete scheme, i! only they have faith in the future. Let them do ample justice to the girls' side now, and I predict that within two . years they will be confronted witl the question of further expenditure to in* crease the girls' boarding accommodation. I recommend the Board of" Governors to consider one inconte»tabl» fact in their deliberations on Monday ■ night: During the last three years all their efforts have been exerted for tho boys—and the boys alone. They hava done absolutely nothing for the girls. The girls have never had a chance. May ' the Governors give them one now! A. R.LENHON, ,' Aew Plymouth, Dec. 19, .1815. Tj