MAKING THE PARENTS PAY

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLV, Issue 21216, 10 December 1938, Page 8

MAKING THE PARENTS PAY

One of the most baffling features of the finance of the New Zealand national system of education is the demands that are frequently made upon parents to contribute to the cost of education. An interesting example has been disclosed in a Mid-Canterbury school: The Minister of Education in a letter to a school committee stated that provided the Health Department, found the equipment and the staff, and people of the district found the balance of the money, the Government would furnish two-thirds of the cost. More than this could not be done as it would not be fair to those other districts that were in need of similar clinics.

Large sums of money, running into many millions are being provided for the construction of public works, and tens of thousands are being expended on public buildings—last year the expenditure under this beading exceeded half a million pounds for school buildings alone. Extensive building operations are being carried out—and yet a school with a roll number of 434 pupils will be denied the advantages of the school dental services, unless the parents contribute to the cost of the necessary building. The only reason for the “implementation” of this policy, is that other schools might ask for equal treatment —why not!