Taranaki Herald. MONDAY, MARCH 25, 1907. EDUCATION IN THE BACK BLOCKS.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 13432, 25 March 1907, Page 4

Taranaki Herald. MONDAY, MARCH 25, 1907. EDUCATION IN THE BACK BLOCKS.

One of the greatest disabilities under wliicK pioneer settlers in the back blocks suffer is the lack of educational facilities • for their I children. Ifheayerap'e pioneer, is not in a position to send his family away from Jiome to be educated ; the returns from busn farming in the early days will not warrant the expense. So that unless relatives or friends are willing to board the children at a very nominal rate, or unless tjiere happens , to be a school within easy reach of the settlers's farm, the children have frequently to go without schooling or to depend upon such instruction as their parents are able to give them. To parents who have a proper regard for their children's welfare and future this is a very serious 'matter, making the difficulties^* their position in the back blocks much greater than they otker^se would be. The Taranaki Education Board has long been; faced w ith ;the problem of meeting "these difficulties, but so |ar it has not succeeded in altogether overcoming them, willing as it is-and hard as it has tried. It is no fault of the ' Board that every child in the district has not educational facilities brought within its reach. The fault lies more with the stupid system, or lack of system, upon which the settlement oi these lands is carried out. Let us take the Whangamomona Valley as an example. The school is about three miles above the township, but on account of the difficulty of travelling through three miles of deep mud another, school had ,to be opened in- the township; :. thus there were, two small schools within three miles of each otheT.- Had the main road been metalled when the first school was established there would have been no need for a second; in fact,. the Board would have been justified in refusing to pay another teacher. If necessary, a conveyance could have been subsidised to carry children from the township to the school. Instead of profiting : from the experience gained in the past from such localities the* Government goes on opening up* land under the same conditions, leaving the education authorities to meet the demands for schools fes best they can. In the Ohura district, properly a part of Taranalo, but which could at present be more conveniently worked as a part of the Auckland education district, the difficulties will be as great as any that have yet had to be faced. The great demand for land has led to the Ohura being taken up very rapidly, and as the land is of excellent quality v, large population will very soon bo carried there, de-

maudiug proportionate school facilities. How these are to be provided by the Taranaki Education Board we are at a loss to know. At least half a dozen schools are wanted now, and they must be provided unless the Government is prepared to carry out the policy it has talked so much about of carrying the children to school. If the Ohura Road were properly metalled the ! problem would not be nearly so knotty, for fewer schools would suffice — and they would be more efficient — and there would be less difficulty in deciding upon the best position in which to j>lace tnem. Under present conditions schools at Matiere/Mangaroa, and Tatu, on the main Ohura Road, will not meet the, wants of nearly all the children, for it will be impossible for the younger ones to travel the necessary, dji§;tances in the winter time. These difficulties, serve to emphasise the importance of roading the land properly before settlement, or at least concurrently with it. ' '