The Waipawa Mail. Published Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. SATURDAY, JULY 15th, 1916. HIGH SCHOOL QUESTION.

Waipawa Mail, Volume XXXVI, Issue 7749, 15 July 1916, Page 2

The Waipawa Mail. Published Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. SATURDAY, JULY 15th, 1916. HIGH SCHOOL QUESTION.

If the people of Waipukurau succeed in inducing the Education authorities to establish a district high school in Ike sister town they will certainly deserve to be congratulated on the whole-hearted manner in which they have prosecuted their campaign, in striking contrast to the lack of interest shown by the residents of Waipawa in a question which is of vital importance to the district. On Thursday another deputation from Waipukurau waited on the Board and stated their case, and following on the discussion which ensued it was decided, on the motion of Mr Kirk, to lay the whole facts before the Department, with the request that if the statements made are correct, a separate school be established at Waipukurau. In the course of the discussion comment was made on the unsatisfactory nature of the present system of conveying. the children to and from school, and one member of the Board so far forgot his judicial capacity as to make irresponsible statements suggesting a disgraceful condition of affairs. There can be no denying the fact that the service since the opening of the school after the Christmas vacation has been unsatisfactory, but the contractor cannot be blamed. He has striven under adverse circumstances to carry out the conditions, but ill-luck has attended him. When he took up the contract negotiations were in progress for the purchase of a suitable conveyance, but these fell through, and resort had to be made to a 'lorry fitted with seats. This conveyance has not proved reliable, and there have been numerous breakdowns. This briefly summarises the position so far as the transport service is concerned. If the service has not been satisfactory in the opinion of the Board, they have the option of terminating the contract, and making fresh arrangements, but no move has been made in that direction. One member of the deputation, in his remarks to the Board, referred to the fact that the Railway Department had refused to transport the children, but he did not inform the Board that when inquiries were made by the railway authorities as to the feasibility of attaching a carriage to the 9 o’clock goods train from Waipukurau it was adversely reported on from Waipukurau. .If the Railway Department could have been induced to assist the obstacles would have, been very largely surmounted, for it would have been a comparatively easy matter to arrange for the return of the children by car.

Turning to the educational aspect of this vexed question, there can be no gainsaying the fact that the duplication of high schools means a weakening of the system. Mainly through the efforts of the late Mr J. D. Watson, the Board have built up a district high school in Waipawa which is a distinct credit to the whole province, and now it is proposed to jeopardise the success of the institution by establishing another school within a radius of five miles, for no other reason than that a number of the pupils are temporarily inconvenienced through an unsatisfactory system of transport. If the Board are weak enough to be coerced in this way what do they propose to do for the secondary pupils who come in daily from Ouga Onga, Tikokino, Tamumu, and Argyll? Are they not entitled to just as much consideration as the children of Waipukurau? Or is it proposed to -start a high school in every small centre? The question is not one of placating any particular township; it is one affecting the whole educational system, and casuistry will not explain away the bed-rock fact that the duplication of schools will lower the standard of efficiency. The Board have hitherto recognised this principle, and have applied it to primary schools in different parts of the prociple. But the principle has not the same force of application in regard to primary schools as it has in respect to high schools, for the pupils of the former are of tender years in comparison with those of • secondaryschools, and furthermore, the cost of establishing and maintaining primary schools is small in comparison with that attending high schools. As the matter stands, however, the Board have decided to refer it to the Education authorities in Wellington. It now remains for the people who are interested in seeing the Waipawa district High School maintained at its present high standard to move in a direction which will ensure the question being placed before the Department in a fair, unbiassed, and impartial manner, and the elimination of parochialism in the interests of higher education*