CONSOLIDATION OF SCHOOLS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLII, Issue 20505, 25 August 1936, Page 12

CONSOLIDATION OF SCHOOLS

PRINCIPLE APPROVED MEETING AT ALBURY Last night a meeting of about 70 people from Albury and surrounding districts passed a motion affirming the principle of consolidating schools by 30 votes to 15. Two members of the Canterbury Education Board, Messrs G. W. Armitage and S. Smith, addressed the meeting. Mr Armitage was elected to the chair. Mr H. L. Adam said he would take the responsibility for calling the meeting. There had been much talk about the meeting and it had been said that the Albury branch of the Farmers’ Union was behind the movement for consolidation, but that was not so. So that the meeting would be called constitutionally, he had gone to Mr A. Thoreau (secretary of the Albury branch of the Farmers’ Union), who had drafted letters to the Canterbury Education Board. The Board had subsequently convened the meeting. “I am glad to see so large a gathering,” Mr Armitage said. “It is ample evidence that you as responsible parents are interested in education and are determined to get the best education possible for your children.” Times were troublous and the affairs of life were becoming more difficult. Everyone present had to admit that the type of education, merely the three “R’s” which had been sufficient for the parents was not at all adequate for their children. Anyone who said it was did not deserve to be a parent. “The old type of education,” Mr Armitage proceeded, “is not sufficient for the needs and requirements of the present and future generations. If we are to have a democracy, if we are to preserve our liberty and freedom, we must have an educated democracy, one that can think and reason soundly for itself.” Every member of the Education Board was in favour of consolidation. They saw its many advantages. But he wanted to make it clear that the Board would not in any way force consolidation upon any committee. The initiative had to come from the householders themselves. The Minister of Education (Hon. P. Fraser) had expressed himself as being strongly in favour of consolidation. Consolidation was no new thing. It was carried out on a large scale in the United States of America and Canada, and it was increasing in favour in Canterbury every month. The Board was now conveying 2000 children to schools by bus, free of charge to the parents. “If you agree to consolidation,” he concluded, “you will never regret the step you have taken. For it is by consolidation that you will get a better education for your children, the future citizens of the State.” “Social Life Not Lost” Mr Smith said he wanted the whole question to be considered deeply. In England and Scotland consolidation was taking place faster than in any country in the world. Wherever it had been tried it had proved a success. “In Canterbury,” he added, “no district where consolidation is operated, has expressed the slightest wish to go back to the old style.” Some districts had five or six schools consolidated. No district had lost its identity or its social life. The Minister of Education had plainly stated that where school buildings were a part of the social life of a district, they would remain. At Hawarden and Oxford, larger districts than Albury, schools had been consolidated, and the people were delighted.

“I will not deride the work of the sole teacher,” Mr Smith proceeded. “But is it fair to expect a teacher to prepare work for children from the primers to Standard VI?” If the schools in the Albury district were consolidated, the (attendance at the Albury school would be increased by about 80, and one teacher therefore, at the most, would only have two classes. It stood to reason that the children were going to get better individual attention than in a sole charge school. The bulk of the sole-charge schools had about 20 children, and those boys and girls could not get any social life outside their own small circle. The sports side of school life was almost the most important because education did not merely consist of instruction in the three “R’s”. It included character development. That was really the whole end of education. The outlook in the small school must be narrow. “The more you get your children mixed with other children, the better they will be,’ he added.

The bus system of conveying children had been started over 20 years ago, Mr Smith said, and yet there had never been an accident. Over those 20 years, the Canterbury Education Board had been responsible for the transport of an average of 800 to 1000 children every day. It had been found that the health of children in consolidated schools had improved; moreover the parents knew exactly when thenchildren would arrive home. “It is our intention as Board members,” he concluded, “to give you a bus route that will go as near as possible to your gates.” He knew the Albury district fairly well, and he could not see any obstacles to consolidation. Education had not stood still. Consolidation was a part of a natural improvement that had been taking place for the last 30 years. Further improvements in education however, could not be made unless there were fewer and fewer small sch.ols. For Each District to Decide Mr V. Howes asked if each school district would decide the question for itself. In reply Mr Armitage said that all the meeting could do would be to affirm the general principle of consolidation. "I think that most members of school committees feel that the meeting has been called in an unorthodox manner,” said Mr P. Kidd (chairman of the Mount Nessing committee). “At, present we do not ’ now where we stand because we have no local opinion on the matter. It appears to me, and it must appear to most people, that the meeting has been badly handled.” The members of the Board had to be thanked for so clearly putting forward the advantages of consolidation, but at the

same time, the great work done in the small schools could not be overlooked. It had to be remembered that some of the greatest men had been educated in small schools. Mr Adam said he accepted responsibility for the meeting and he asked what use it would have been calling district meetings before the position had been fully explained. There had been one meeting called in the district at which those present had not known what they were talking about. A voice: What meeting? Mr Adam: Te Ngawai. The voice: Thank you. Proceeding, Mr Adam said that by listening to the members of the Board the people of the different distr’ets would be better able to understand the position. Mr Smith, ?n answer to questions, said that the bus route would have to be drawn up for the Board by local committees. At Hawarden there were buses travelling 36 miles. The carrying capacity of a bus would be determined by the demand. Mr W. R. Davison: If you are going to give us four teachers for 140 children, are we not better off with one ■ teacher fcr 15 children? Mr Smith said that one teacher in a school of 140 childr en would not have more than two classes. If an average of 20 secondary pupils could be obtained, a district high school could be established. A motion of thanks was passed to the members of the Board for their explanations.