PREPARING FOR EXHIBITION

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLV, Issue 21180, 29 October 1938, Page 22

PREPARING FOR EXHIBITION

Educational Section Schools Well Provided For By Telegraph—Press Association WELLINGTON, October 28. When the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition is opened in Wellington next year, one of the most important parts of the Government Court will be the education section. Suggested types of exhibits from primary schools, both public and private, secondary schools, technical colleges, teacher’s training colleges, universities, kindergartens and the Education Department have been reported on by special sub-committees and approved by the Minister of Education (Hon. P. Fraser), who is president of the Education Committee.

Mr W. V. Dyer, chairman of the Wellington Education Board, is chairman of the committee. Mr W. I. Deavoll, secretary of the Wellington Education Board’s Association is secretary and Mr O. J. Howarth, headmaster of the Island Bay School, Wellington, is chairman of the primary schools’ sub-committee.

It is proposed that a master from the Art Department of one of the technical schools .will be seconded about four months before the opening of the exhibition to lay-out the education section In as artistic a manner as possible. This renders it necessary for schools to take advantage of the work prepared by senior pupils during the remaining period of the school year, and to begin collecting without delay suitable class exhibits which it is expected will be later taken in hand and sorted out by the Central Selection Committee. It has been decided not to have actual classes under instruction, as at the Dunedin exhibition.

Members of the Primary School subcommittee, however, attached the greatest importance to the active participation of the children of the Dominion at the Centennial Exhibition stated Mr Deavoll to-day, and a strong effort was being made to secure the introduction of living displays in physical education, folk dancing, choral work, verse speaking, dramatic expression, school bands and handwork. The sub-committee was confident that the schools of the Wellington district could be relied on to provide a daily programme, holidays excepted, during the centennial, and that during the Christmas holidays the programme could well be supplied by pupils, including Maori pupils, of schools visiting the centennial.

A good deal of organisation would be involved, added Mr Deavoll, but a comprehensive programme could be compiled before the opening of the exhibition, but care would be taken that it would be sufficiently elastic to accommodate the schools in any district which, at the time of the request, could not state definitely their intention to visit the centennial. The following list of exhibits has been approved—Handwork, geography, history, nature study and elementary science, English and social education. It has been considered advisable, so far as the primary schools are concerned, to eliminate exhibits of handwriting, print scrip, arithmetic and English authologies, prose and drama.