The Waikato Independent. SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 1914 SCHOOL COMMITTEES.

Waikato Independent, Volume XVIII, Issue 1405, 31 January 1914, Page 4

The Waikato Independent. SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 1914 SCHOOL COMMITTEES.

As a general rule the school committee elections do not attract a great deal of attention. The functions of the committees have been curtailed from time to time in such a manner that service upon them is not greatly sought after. The difficulty of securing funds for anything except what is absolutely necessary for tbe maintenance of the school is another reason lor the lack of interest. A third suggestion comes from Auckland. The chairman of the Auckland Education Board (Mr G. J. Garland) believes that the present method of electing the committee has a good deal _ to do with the apathy of the public, xle is of the opinion that a proper roll of householders should be prepared by the Department, it being suggested that many persons who are not entitled to vote do so. Ho suggests that candidates should be Dominated a week prior to the day fixed for the election, and that the voting should be dene in the daytime in fact, that the elections of school committees should be run on similar lines to those of other local bodies. No doubt the result would be to give the position of school committee man an added importance and standing. It would also involve a considerable extra expenditure, and it is questionable whether any money can be spared from the present meagle allowances made to school committees. This consideration will pro bably he found to render the Auckland suggestion impracticable. A better way to raise the status of the committees would be to give them a larger share of administrative work, and devise some means of increasing the giants made to them. With a little encouragement in this direction, it might be possible to improve the

surroundings of some of the schools, and to transform them into more suitable places for the instruction of children. The tendency in more advanced educational quarters is to make the environments of the schools and the buildings themselves as bright and pleasant as possible, and this is a work towards winch a committee might very easily do a great deal. But until school committees are given an assured finance, and have more important duties to perform than to act merel y as caretakers of their schools, the present lack of interest in local educational affairs may be expected to continue