The Tuapeka Times AND Goldfields Reporter & Advertiser "Measures, not Men." WEDNESDAY, 17th JULY, 1912 THE VAGARIES OF THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XLIV, Issue 5961, 17 July 1912, Page 2

The Tuapeka Times AND Goldfields Reporter & Advertiser "Measures, not Men." WEDNESDAY, 17th JULY, 1912 THE VAGARIES OF THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT.

Some years ago the group of statesmen who, after a long and arduous struggle, have lately pushed themselves into the «ats of the mighty, adopted the title o' the Befortn I'avty. This has proved a better lighting name than the Ono previously chosen, National Association, aid the intentions presumed to underlie the. adoption of th« designation probably dc cidod tho votes of a iiumU* of more or less vaguely dissatisiied elecUrs. The titln implies a pledge to these eltctow and to tha Dominion at

largo that the ur at offorts of the Mussey Ministry will b«. dircoUd t»-a searching investigation into the »anner in which public business is being comdiictcd by the various State Departments. Tho lleform l'nrty is pledged to reform, that is, it guarantees tin: most! oiliciont and ecoiomii* administration it is possible to obtain. The continuance of one l'urty iu power for tweuty-ono years may have, been conducive to lax or unduly complex methods of work in some of tho numerous Departments. It is quite possible that during this long period sonio barnacles have attached themselves to tho ship of Statu which it has not been politically expedient to remove. It is extremely probable that divers of our departmental oilicinl.s are so wrapped up and bandaged in multitudinous folds of routine and red-tapo that they have become, for (ill practical purposes, as unresponsive to tho demand* of the public as Egyptian muißir.ies. And it in ixsrfectly certain that some of the State Bepartments have tho <iuoorcst methods of doing business, so ipieor, indeed, that if a private firm practised them, either its affairs would eouJO U'fore the bankruptcy court, or its principals be lodged in a lunati* asylum. As aa illustration we shall take tho methods adopted by tha Education Department in doalinp;'with the conveyance to school of children livirjf in sparsoly nettled districts. The general oxtension of the system of conveyance is advocated by many educationalists on the plea that cheaper and more efficient instruction would lie thus secured than lyy coi> tinually erecting little schools to bo taught bt untrained half-trained teachers, who, being paid'nana!! salaries laud condemned to sosial isolation, are chronically dissatisfied and disheartened, inasmuch that their minds are more occupied with schemes for getting shifted than with plans for the mental improvement of their pupils. For some years past this system of conteyance has loocn in partial operation, to the benefit of the children concerned wo Miovc, but the procedure of tho Department is so annoying and harassing to the Boards. CoinmitttM, and teachers concerned that it would be quite oxcusafble if all theeo held that tho trouble and worry inflicted on thanu wa» not sufficiently compensated by the greater »flicierjcy of tn« education afforded to a few childrea. In the first plaoa tho Education Department has not snfflciant faith im th« dl«/»otion tiaA

thrift #f Boards to grant them an- I lually a lump sum for conveyance and to trust them to administer it j wisely :aiid economically. But, stnuigo I to say, it puts complete faith in forms filled, with iniorai.ation aaippHocl by the officials i and teachers of the-e very same untrustworthy Boards, just as if persons who were not lit to bis entrusted with th« expenditure of i money could yet bo trusted to give careful and correct accounts oi expenditure incurred. In the second place the Department has a Draconic scale of distances and ages by whtcn it is gnidad in the payent of conveyance charges. For instance, it will not pay for the conveyance to school of a child over ten years oi ag« and dwelling undor four miles fr*a the nearest school. For younger children three miles is the limit. Uonsoriuentlv a child coming to school at seven h a s only three years free passage and, if delicate or tame, at the expiration oi that period, the parents oi the child get no more education ior the pour little tiling. This regulation. oi the Department, besides ignoring the difference in physical strength among children of the same age, takes no account of tht difference in passa'bil'-ty of roads of tha same length. In some districts three miles are more difficult to travels* than six or ten miles in others. Then again, if through some inadvertence, the Jcontraotor conveys and the Department pays for a three and a'lialf mule child a month over ten years of age, tho Department, in its infatuate*! real for economy, has the unpleasant habit ci subtracting the overpay from the next month's wages, though the contractor, aot being supplied with ia copy of the regulations, is left to ottnrey the superfluous child in blissful ignorance ei the whole matter, until rudely awakened, by receiving less than he expected, to the fact that he is being fined instead of being paid ior doing what he thought was his duty. This sort of injustice is a result oi tho absurdly complicated system of

dealing with a very simple matter. Instead of the Department asking th* I contractor to Bend in his bill, it sends forms to 'be filled up by tin' Board which the Board sends on to the head master of the «chool t<i which the children are conveyed. These forma contain names and numbers of attendances, and trips made by the contractor, and statements of ages and distances, which latter information can be obtained by the head master only from hearsay, and cannot •be vouched for . a s reliable. However, the procedure of the Department gives him a direct inducement to sxaggerate the distances tc> save trouble, as the com4>lioations involved am an understatement puts more unpaid work on his shoulders. These returns are sent in once a month and sometimes oftener, and a separate register of conveyed pupils has to be kept. After the Department gets the monthly return it pays the Board, the Board then pays the Committee, and the Committee pays the contractor. The authenticity ef the information which regulates the amount to pay all depends on the head master, who is unpaid for this special work, but is exposed to harassment from all the other parties concerned, if any mistake . is made by tham. But the most absurd departmental freak has yet to be detailed. iffiwn a. (School Com»i*tee or Board or teacher desires to get children Scweyed to tUe nearest soh«ol a Proposal Form has to bo tiled up and ■signed (by the secretary' «f they Board who, of course, delegates the filling U j part of the business to the head master, who cannot get the information required except from hearsay or by "house to hooae visitation over trackless wastes, a procedure he is not likely to adopt except whe* Raid specially for

the service. Then if the Department thinks the proposal justified, without employing any indepenent 'means of verifying the information vouchsafed, it authorises the Board to convey the children, and the Boaixi authorise*! the Committee similarly, and the Board requests the head master to send in monthly returns. But all thi* work has to '1)01 done over as?ain whenever a single child in the outlying district sjrows up te the scheol age, otherwise the Department -will not pay jp. Naturally parents oi children in -mt-of-the-way place*, seeing the chilIren's van running, ask the driver to :ake them in a3 they arrive at the school age. But if ha does so he .von't be paid, as rtko Department mist have its proposal form first. »V ie\v proposal form for every new child l ! ?uch is red tape. Suppose that every ime a new pupil came to an established, school special proposal forms ontaining nine separate items of nore or less 1 irrelevant information lad to 'bo prepared a 1"! sell t- to the VpartmeHt before that child could be nit on the register, and payment for ts education vouchsafed, how much ime would the teachers of our largo chsols have to devote to their reguar work of instruction? Would not heir time bs wasted in preparing leedless details, and would it n»t bo l penny-wise and pound foolish manler of promoting primary education ''. i'et such is the procedure of the Dc>artmeDt, presumablv on grounds of conomy, in dealing with the problem if the conveyance of children from ocalities where the population is piuch catt aired. We should not have dealt i-ith the matter in so much detail had ve not known that the adequate intruction of children of settlers in the >ack-blocks is one of the most prcsing educational problems of the day. )ur Education Department could easly and effectively settle the matter >y granting annually a sum of money o each Board for conveyance pur-ir-ses and leaving the Boards to reguate its distribution. But it prefers ts own eircumlocutorv and expensive lanncr of doing business, with the csult that, instead of promoting the ducation of the children of our pioicers of settlement, it put* as many lifliculties as possible in the way. I ['he humorous part of the business is he child-like faith of the Departed in orms suppKcd by persons it does not ■ ;eo fit to trust. It regards Boards, Committees, and teachers as thieves ind cheats, and yet takes their word is gospel truth. While cordially wcloming the Hon. J. Allen's appoititncnt as Minister of Education, we. .ope that he will institute reforms iu ds Department whieh will improve bhu irganisation and incroas* its usefulless by abolishing much of the forlalistic prscedure which has been too vident In its administration during he past few years, and which must lave already cost the country a pretty )enny.