EDUCATION BOARDS.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 379, 22 March 1932, Page 4

EDUCATION BOARDS.

Meeting Strongly Opposes Abolition. “ DIRECTOR’S PET HOBBY.” A suggestion that if the Education Boards are abolished in, accordance with the recommendations of the National Expenditure Commission, the school committees should also cease to function was made by Mr L. E. Vernazoni (Linwood Avenue Committee), at a special meeting of the Canterbury School Committees’ Association last evening. The meeting decided to enter a strong protest against the abolition of the boards. Mr W. W. Scarff (Cashmere) said that the boards were doing very useful work and it would be a very shortsighted policy to abolish them and centralise the whole of the administration in Wellington. He moved that the meeting record its strong objection to the proposal. After Mr Vernazoni had made the suggestion that the school committees should walk out if the proposal were adopted, the chairman, Mr J. G. Brown (Sydenham) said that he was inclined to treat the suggestion seriously. Committees, he said, were now nothing more nor less than bodies of cadgers and caretakers, and if the boards were abolished they might as well leave the whole job to the Department. The chairman: It is well known that the abolition of the boards is the pet hobby of the Director of Education (Mr T. B. Strong). Mr C. S. Thompson (Shirley), a member of the Canterbury Board, said it was quite clear that the whole thing was cut and dried. The Commission had used exactly the same arguments as were contained in the Departmental report of 1927. He .stated that there were 2600 school- committees in the Dominion and it would be nothing short of a miracle for the Department to deal direct with them from Wellington. * Mr J. H. Jones (West Christchurch District High) said that if the boards were abolished the staff of the Department in Wellington would probably be increased to three times its present size, and a great proportion of the estimated saving of £50,000 would be used up.