BOARD OF EDUCATION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 1121, 20 September 1871, Page 2

BOARD OF EDUCATION.

The fortnightly meeting of the Board was held in the Provincial Council Library, at 3 p.m. yesterday. Mr W. Montgomery, the Chairman, presided, aud the other members present were Dr Turnbull, Messrs T. W. Maude, G. Gould, C. C. Bowen, J. R. Loughnan, and W. Kennaway. Mr Restell, Government Inspector of Schools, was also present. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. Mr Loughnan, according to previous notice, moved — " That a committee of — members, consisting of Messrs and the mover, be appointed to examine and report "to the? Board, with the, assistance of the Inspectorof Schools and the Seoretary to the Board, on the catalogue of books in store for use in the schools, with the view to excluding from the school, course' all matter which, may be deemed reasonably objectionable by parents of any religious denomination, as contrary .to, ; the religious principles and convictions 'of that denomination, and calculated to impart to the minds . Of the scholars partial, onesided, or false views in matters and questions of history and religion." He- said that his object in moving' the resolution was; self evident. The intention of< the Act was that the education to be given was to be as nearly as possible a secular one, and as all classes would have to contribute towards the. expenses, it was only natural that they would be desirous of taking as much.,, advantage of the educational measures; as T possible. The Board were therefore bound ta be careful in eliminating everything tending' to a sectarian teaching from the books - authorised by them. There were many books, which had necessarily religious' tendencies' more or less strong. ' Take for instance/ history. He would ask whether it were possible for any member of the Board to ' write a book on the reign of Queen Mary without displaying a religious bias. Modern history was in fact the history of the various churches. The Board was a mixed one, and his church was particularly sensitive upon the point at which his resolution aimed. It, waa therefore highly necessary that some examination of the books now in the Board depot — which aided schools were compelled to use — should be carefully examined and revised, so as not to affect the keen susceptibilities of denominationalists. Mr Kennaway seconded the motion pro forma. Mr Bowen said he would like to move as an amendment, " That a committee be appointed to inspect and report generally upon the state of the depot." He thought this would meet the second part of Mr Loughnan's remarks. He quite agreed that it was desirable to exercise some care in the books authorised, but at the same time they must not make such a proceeding an arbitrary one. Whilst be admitted tbat history could not be taught without inculcating religious opinions . to a certain extent, and whilst he agreed that it should be modified as far as possible, still he for one could not believe in books being made completely barren by every little word that might be objected to by one or another being erased. In his opinion the motion, struck at the very root of the principle on which the Board were acting, and he would not therefore support it. Mr Gould seconded the amendment. Mr Maude supported the motion, endorsing the remarks of Mr Bowen. He saw that the Ordinance compelled every school to procure its books from the depot, and he would like J to see an alteration made in the Ordinance next session whereby schools would have the option of procuring their books from thek depit or elsewhere. Mr Kennaway said he did not agree with the resolution. He feared it would be impossible to eliminate everything of a religious ten-' dency from school books, and what the Board should simply endeavour to arrive at should be something as near as possible to the plain truth. He should support the amendment. Dr Turnbull thought the motion as being brought forward in the interest of denominational schools deserved some consideration. He adverted to the good work hitherto done by such schools, and remarked upon the fact of tbe Ordinance compelling all aided schools to take books from the Board Depot. The Ordinance ought therefore to provide for books suited to each denomination, or allow the denominations to get their books elsewhere. But, however much he might be inclined to support the motion, its novelty and the great difficulty in the way of carrying it out would prevent him from so doing, fie would therefore prefer to support the general measure laid down in the amendment. The amendment, on being put, was agreed .' to, and the motion therefore fell to the ground. Mr Maude moved " That notice by.letter be addressed to the promoters and managers :• of schools aided by public money, bat not 7 included in any Educational district; that the grants which they now receive will cease after the end of the current month, and that the Board is ready to entertain applications for aid to be granted under the provisions of ' the Ordinance, 1871." He said that the question embodied in the resolution was one which travelled over a great deal of time, and occupied a great deal of ground. It would be as well to call to the recollection of members, that it was in 1857 that funds were first voted by the Provincial Council. This was a sum of £2500, of which £300 was the Inspector's salary. The subsequent Ordinance of 1864, which was based on the. report of a commission previously appointed, - did not repeal that of 1857, but directed Education into a new channel, at tbe same time recognising the existing denominational schools. But the vote to these schools was not increased. The statistics, no doabt, showed in favour of these schools, as the average attendance was one-third more, and ' the grant one-third lesi, than the district schools; but it must not be lost sight of that the denominational schools have occupied the populous district* sine* 1857, while tfja dhj.

•trict schools have only been planted since 1864, and are situated chiefly in the outlying districts. The present Ordinance, however, does not recognise the denominational schools, as such in fact; to borrow from the Bill now before the Assembly, it provides for schools not in any educational disttrict, as " a'ded schools " only, whether, they give religious instruction or not. The resolution, therefore, is intended to. effect that all schools, not being district schools, that is the present denominational schools, shall cease to receive public money . after the current financial year, ending. 30th inst.; and that each school should make application for aid, solely on the ground of its doing work as an educational institution. Tbe Ordinance, however, opened the door to any application for aid, even from a private school, whether religious instruction is given in it or not; and the Board, in allotting^ funds, must not be unprepared for a flood-of applications coming from all sorts of schools, public or private; and in granting aid it must be impressed upon the recipients that it can only be exceedingly temporary, from the 'operation of the Ordinance itself, for to take Christchurch, for instance, whenever the people come forward and desire to have the district proclaimed and a district committee elected; from the moment that tbe proclamation is issued, public money can no longer legally be paid to any other than district schools. Dr Turnbull seconded the motion. He perfectly agreed with it. and the only thing he would suggest was, that the Board must "be prepared with a proper financial scheme in readiness for this expected onslaught. They must, in short, be prepared to say upon what basis the funds should be distributed ; and if Mr Maude would make some such addition to his resolution, it would be a great improvement to it. ■■--. '!■'■. Mr Gould cordially agreed with the terms of the resolution. It. was high time that something were done to place the denominational schools on a more satisfactory footing. He could not, however, support it in its present form, because he considered it to be very inopportune.^- Looking to the fact that the Provincial Government pledged themselves last session to bring down an Education Ordinance applying to municipal corporations, which would secure all that was sought for by tbe motion; and that the General Assembly are now legislating upon education, he thought- that the Board would not be wise in adopting the motion at present. If they did so, everything tbey did under it might be upset in Wellington within the next three months. He was decidedly inclined to temporarily assist denominational schools, and then wait until they saw the result of the measures now going on. He thought they should give them an amount of aid equal to that allowed to district schools, or in proportion to fees; but of course with a caution that it would hot be continued longer than a certain time.. Considering what denominational schools had done and were still doing he would be glad to accede to anything which would give them good temporary assistance. Mr Bowen doubted whether the Board could give denominational schools the position pointed out by Mr Gould, and the ordinance being a Provincial Council measure, they could not alter it; tbey could simply carry it out strictly and absolutely. Dr Turnbull's suggestion as to being prepared with a proper scheme denning the basis upcn which the distribution of funds should be made, in order not to let it appear as if the action was merely a caprice of the Board, was a good one, and should be seriously considered by the Board. Mr Gould explained that it was very probable another change would be made within three months, .and urged that nothing could be more dangerous to any system of education than frequent changes. Mr Bowen said it was apparent by the ordinance tbat towns as well as any other portions of the province could apply to be erected into educational districts, and all the Board would have to do would be to provide the money. Mr Kennaway supported the resolution, because it would carry out what he conceived to be the intentions of the promoters of the ordinance. In answer to Mr Gould, he said when the Government promised to bring down next session an ordinance tbat would apply to municipalities, they were under the impression that the present ordinance could not be enforced in such localities, but their solicitor having since given an opinion that such could be done, the question of Government elementary education in municipalities was so far settled. With regard to Mr Gould's suggestion, he would point out that the ordinance could only be altered in the Provincial Council, and that the duties of the Board were simply to carry it out as it stands. Mr Maude, in reply, said he desired again to point out that so long as there was no district proclaimed it was open for any school whatever to apply for aid tbat was willing to comply with the conditions of the Ordinance. The motion was put and agreed to. A memorial was read from seventeen residents in the Heathcote Valley, praying that the contemplated new school buildings should not be erected contiguous to tbe present site, but tbat the site should be moved to a more central locality. Messrs Duncan and Garland attended to support the terms of the memorial, which was ultimately deferred for consideration. The Chairman drew the attention of the Board to the bonus due to schools on the 30th of June, and desired the members to consider whether they would desire to continue the former rate of bonus, or to increase or decrease them. For his part he would recommend the same bonus being coatinued, except in exceptional circumstances. Mr Bowen asked if this would leave the principle on which the bonus Ib distributed untouched, so far as the Board was concerned, that whether the Board by passing the amounts would be confirming the principle. The Chairman said it would not affect it ia any way.

Mr Bowen said this being the case, the amounts should be authorised at once. His question was prompted by an opinion tbat tbe principle of distributing the bonus should not only be strictly fair, but that it should also be easily intelligible. If the latter point were not attended to, heart-burnings and unpleasantness amongst the teachers would assuredly be created. Personally, he was of opinion that the principle on which the bonus had been apportioned hitherto, was not an intelligible one, and that some revision of it would consequently be required. Dr Turnbull endorsed these remarks, quoting a case in which such feelings as adverted to by Mr Bowen, had been created. • The Chairman said the Inspector of Schools reported that the Halswell and the Lower Heathcote schools should receive a higher bonus, both of them having increased in efficiency and numbers. On the motion of Mr Bowen, it was resolved that the bonus for the June quarter be paid to district schools on the same scale as the previous quarter, except in the case of the Lower Heathcote and Halswell districts, where an addition shall be made proportionate to increased attendance and efficiency. Mr Alexander Lean, architect, waited upon the Board with a set of general plans for district schools, as prepared by him in accordance with instructions from the Provincial Government. Mr Lean explained the plans in detail, and decision regarding them was postponed until a future meeting of the Board, in order that members might have an opportunity of considering them at leisure. The plans for the new Harewood Road school were submitted, and considered. One or two slight alterations were made, and they were then approved. A memorial was read from the Chairman of the present local School Committee and other residents on the Harewood Road, requesting that a public meeting should be convened for the 9th of October, for the purpose of erecting the distiict into an educational district under the new Ordinance. The prayer of the memorial was agreed to. : A memorial was read .from eighteen residents in the Tai-Tapu district, praying that the district be erected into an educational district under the new Ordinance. The Secretary was instructed to convene the necessary public meeting for the 9th of October ; Mr Restell to represent the Board. A similar memorial from residents on the Kaiapoi Island, as adjourned from last meeting of the Board, was considered, and the necessary meeting was fixed for the same date ; Mr Maude to represent the Board. The Chairman inquired whether, as there was much important business yet to be done, it. would not be better to adjourn until another day. A motion to this effect was agreed to, and the Board adjourned.