EDUCATION BOARD POWERS

Taranaki Daily News, 18 October 1930, Page 11

EDUCATION BOARD POWERS

CHARGES OF CENTRALISATION.

REPLY OF THE HON. H. ATMORE.

A reply ’ has been received by the Central School Committee, New Plymouth, from, the Minister of Education, the Hon. H. Atmore, to a resolution that the committee strongly protested against any curtailment of the powers of education boards or any tendency to the centralisation of administration as proposed in the recess committee’s report. “In reply,” wrote the Minister, “I have to say that your communication appears to be the result of a circular letter which the Auckland Education Board has apparently sent to every school committee in its district, and m which, I regret to say, the board has grossly misrepresented the facts. “With regard to the appointment of teachers, the board states that all appointments will be made by a national appointments committee at Wel'ington.’ While it is true that th© proposal of the committee is that appointments should be entrusted to a national appointments committee, the board has not taken the trouble to inform school committees that it will be a tw'ly comprisino- representatives of the teachers and the department with an independent'chairman, that it will mobilise and direct th the best national advantage the nation’s teaching resources, with disinterested regard to the legitimate needs of all schools—country as well as city—ou an efficiency basis, aid that where deemed desirable it w-11 consult local committees. It is worthy of note that the proposal has. the strong support of the New Zealand Educational Institute, which body represents over 6000 in the Dominion. j, “The board’s statement ‘that the erection, maintenance and repair of school buildings and teachers’ residences is 1 to be undertaken by the Public Works Department, instead of through education, boards as at present,’ is absolutely contrary to fact. The truth is that iu its endeavour to bolster up a weak case tie board has taken the evidence of one of the witnesses, which was embodied in the report, and made it appear as a recommendation of the committee. “There is nothing derogatory to the education boards in the committee s proposal in connection with the pay-, ment of teachers. Unfortunately the Auckland Board has not deemed it neceesary to point out that the have to be made according to fixed scales,, and that the existing practice involved the duplicatidh of clerical stuffs/ \v ..ich is not Warranted; and cannot- be justified. The Government has to pay the salaries and there is no reason why payment should not be made direct to the teachers. “The foregoing remarks are, to-a certain exten’, applicable to the distribu- > tion of capitation allowances and subsidies. Here, too, there is_ duplication and not infrequently friction and delay, and a continuation of the present practice . cannot be defended. Where, payments have to be' made according to fixed scales, prescribed by. statute or regulation, and operating uniformly throughout the Dominion, the committee is of opinion that such payments should be made direct from the department to the' recipients, and should not pass through the board’s accounts at all. , „ J . • With reference to the alleged. centralisation of educational administration in Wellington,’ I say the boards remarks are not justified and have no •foundation. As a matter of fact, the commit tee has stated in the report that it is strongly opposed to the suggestion made during my predecessor’s term of office that the existing education boards should be abolished in favour of a completely centralised department. A care-. ful study of the proposals will show that they provide for decentralisation to a great degree, and I have no hesitation in stating that when the recommendations of the committee are thoroughly understood by school committeemen and women and the parents generally, they will not be content to allow the actions of. those who feel they have a vested interest in positions which they have held for many years to stand in the way of progress in the educational development of their children. It cannot be denied that there is a great waste in expenditure upon administration in New Zealand compared with other countries, and surely it is not unreasonable to ask that the money voted by Parliament for the education of the girls and boys shall be expended for J that purpose and not wasted in expensive overlapping which is so much in evidence to-day.” -