COST OF SCHOOL BOOKS

Taranaki Daily News, 18 July 1929, Page 14

COST OF SCHOOL BOOKS

VARIATIONS IN TARANAKI.EVIDENCE FROM ALL SCHOOLS. For the purpose of ascertaining the cost of the necessary equipment for a child in each standard, the secretary of the Taranaki Education Board, Mr. H. W. Insull, compiled some statistics. These were placed before the board at its meeting yesterday and it was decided to draw the attention of teachers to the results of the compilation of the evidence received.

Mr. Insull said he had ascertained from each school in the board’s district the price paid by pupils for each of their school books, and the total cost per child in each standard. It was understood that the published price of text books should obtain throughout the Dominion, since all publications on the authorised list were to be delivered freight, or postage, free to the retailers, but in some of the remoter districts the price had been exceeded by as high as 4d a book.

The cost per child in the standards varied considerably in different grades of schools, he said. Apparently teachers in the higher grade schools required a fuller equipment than those in smaller schools. Many teachers did not require the pupils to purchase history and geography text books, but depended upon oral teaching.

In many schools( particularly Grade III) the pupils appeared to take great care of their text books and handed them on to their brothers and sisters, or the teacher arranged at the end of the year to sell the books at much reduced prices. The number of pads, notebooks, drawing books, etc., varied considerably in different schools. At least one school was in the happy position of supplying all the text books free to the pupils. The following figures, compiled from the returns sent in by 150 schools, were considered a reasonable minimum cost of the necessary equipment for a child in each standard: —Primers, for two years, 6s; standard 1, for one year, 3s; standard 11. 4s 2d; standard 3,13 s 2d; standard 4,12 s Sd; standard 5,13 s lOd; standard 6,15 s fid. The apparent large amount to be expended on a standard 3 child provided for the purchase of atlas, dictionary, etc., which lasted the child through the following years.