ECONOMY IN EDUCATION

Taranaki Daily News, 10 June 1932, Page 3

ECONOMY IN EDUCATION

DEFENCE BY MINISTER. SAVINGS TO MEET POSITION. ’ “In considering the whole question of economies in education I have always had the thought of the boys and girls attending the schools uppermost in my mind, and I have made the economies, as far as was humanly possible, out of the administrative charges,” said the Minister of Education, the Hon. R. Masters, when speaking at the opening of(the Otahuhu Junior High School on Wednesday. ■ . In explaining the difficult nature of the task he had had to perform the Minister said the cost of education had increased from £1,472,000 in 1914 to £4,174,000 in 1930-31: As taxation was increasing, and revenue was falling, the Government had been forced to make economies, and the education vote, unfortunately, had to .bear its fair share of the reductions. ... Pointing out that' the national receipts had fallen from £34,260,000 in 1921 to £23,000,068 in 1931, the Minister said there were only two ways of meeting the position —increased taxation or economy. Naturally, it was decided to meet the situation as far as possible by. sayings in expenditure. As far as the education vote was concerned, it was anticipated that by the end of 1934, when all the economies would be. fully operative, there would be a saving in expenditure of £1,184,000, compared with the amount spent immediately prior to tlie institution of the economies. “School committees have not been affected by those economies,” said the Minister. “That was one of the reeom- , mendations of the National Expenditure Commission that we did not accept, so that capitation grants have not been reduced. Other recommendations we did not accept were: Abolition of native scholarships, abolition of the School Journal, the closing of all grade 0 schools, transport for secondary school children, cancellation of the issue of free books in necessitous cases, and the imposition of a fee for the proficiency certificate.” Dealing generally with the cost ot social services, the Minister quoted . a remark by Viscount Snowden that, while many such social services might be. tolerable "in prosperous times, it was. impossible to continue them fully in times of industrial depression. One-third of the revenue in 1930, or £6,750,000, was spent in social services, so it could be realised why it was necessary now to make economies. Illustrating the mounting costs ot social services,' the Minister quoted the following items of expenditure, showing the growth between 1918 and 1930: Hospital subsidies, £243,000 to £696,000; health, £61,000 to £248,000; dental hygiene, £2500 to £54,000; maternity benefits, £17,000 to £42,000; education. £1,811,000 to £4,174,000; child welfare, £64,000 to £153,000; Plunket .Society, £4390 to £26,274. During the same period there had been an increase of £1,520,000 in pension payments. “I hope the time is not far distant when we will be able to reinstate the benefits which have been taken away,” said the Minister. “We are not going to have a depression all our lives. This ia just a passing phase, as previous experience has shown.”