The Timaru Herald. THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 1884.

Timaru Herald, Volume XL, Issue 2919, 31 January 1884, Page 2

The Timaru Herald. THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 1884.

At the annual meeting of householders of the Timaru School District on JJlondpy Lwt, the following resolution was carried unanimously, about a hundred and fifty persons being present : — ."That if) bea recommendation to the incoming Committee to confer with the Committees of other Borough schools m Canterbury, with a view of memorialising l;he Department of Education to remove Borough schools from under the control of Boards of Education, and placing them directly under the control of the Department, and that Members of the House of Eepresentatives be askeel to assist . the memorialists." The mover of the . resolution, contended m support pf it, that "Ever flince the estahlinhment of Boards there had been clifficaltiea m regard to allowances, Ac. In fiictv there were many reasons; for Committees being placed m dijrect communication with the Minister of Education. Money, for instance, 'should not be allowed to filter through the hands of the Bpard. before reaching the Cominittiies."; We cannot aay these • strike us as beinffiyery exhaustive or very conyincing arguments m any respect; butthoir point is the^r entire failure to ant up any intelligible distinction between Borough aohools l and country schools. The proposal to memorialise the Dtspartment of Education to remove Bbrdugb schools from tie control of Boards of Education m itself betriiyti a curious misconception of the law. The Deptxtment of Education have no more power to remove Borough sclioolu from the control of Boards of .Education than they have to abolish the Lupialativo Council or to nnne'r Hew Guinea. Their funotions ate purely administrative, and even their administrative, functions are restricted within, very mtr<i\v limits. Nothing short of an Aofc of Parliament would suffice to achieve the abject t>f. Wo .Resolution. All' publio schools without exception, fire placed by }aw nnder the control of the Boards ; and oaly the power that gave the Boards their authority, oan take it from them again. It is fortunate that this is so ; for things would get into a nice muddle if a couple of officials at Wellington qo'nld pvili 1 the udaeitionivl systena of the colony to pieces at their pleasure, to suit; fclw viows of particular sections or individuals. Thai ' Would never do ; and, aa We iiavc said, no ouch thing iv possible

under the law as it stands. Wiaii the meeting of . should have done if '-ih^.Vißhqd the 'system ; to;b«| altered, •jva^to sign, a petition to Parlia^ riient praying if or an amendment of the Education Act m- the desired direction^ This woulcl at least have drawn the 1 attention of the Legislature to the question, whereas a memorial to the Department will simply be shelved. But apart from this technical matter, we are tit a loss to see vcbat the householders or the School Committee are to giiin supposing they have their way. The complaint of the Borough School Committees is that they do not receive enough consideration at the hands of the Boards of Education. They are not adequately represented m the Boards, m proportion to' the importance of the schools under their management, but are outvoted by the numerous oountry eobools ; and hence, they allege, they are stinted of allow.ances and treated generally with scant courtesy. It is not our intention to discuss the justice of this'complaint. We will only observe that when some time ago the Chairman of the Timarn SohooL Comuiittoe scoured his election to the Board of Education, expressly to loot after the interests of tbat school, be was obliged to admit that the Board dealt fairly enough by it;'and he bioinclf soon became the special object of the Committee's animadversions. But, assuming that the Borough schools have jnst caune of complaint, would they better themselves by escaping from the control of the Boards of Education and. coming under that of the central department P It seems to us that they would be jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. They say they have not sufficient influence m the Boards. What influence, we should like to know, would .they have m the Department ? The Boards of Education, though not legally responsible to anybody, are decidedly nnder the influence of public opinion, especially of local public opinion. , They are readily accessible, especially to those concerned m the management of Borough schools; and they could' not venture to commit any glaring injustice or neglect. The Department, j on tho contrary, while jast as irresponsible as the Boards, would be m no way subject to public opinion, and for. all practical purposes, they would not be accessible to anybody. We know from dire experience how arbitrary they oan-be,-and«how hopeless it is to get any satisfaction from them. If it is a choice between the Boards and the Department, we strongly recommend the Borough schools to stick to the Boards. Bat why should it bfe a choice between the Boards and the Department, and why should the Borough schools take a line of their own m contradistinction to the country schools P The interests of both are m reality identical, and if an alteration of the law is necessary m order to facilitate the work of the Committees, they ought all to agree upon a common object. If they did that they would very likely get something done; whereas, if tho Borough schools persist m going again 3t the country Bchools, they will never get anything done. For onr part, we have never varied our opinion that the only way to do away with the conflict between Boards of Education and School Committees is to abolish one or the other. The School Committees cannot be abolished withont sacrificing the popular character of the system altogether. The Boards can be dispensed with easily enough ; and that is what we think the Committees should try to get done, if they are really m earnest m desiring a change.