JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS

Waipa Post, Volume 32, Issue 1926, 26 October 1926, Page 5

JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS

i'kogiuudd; but no money.

MINISTER SPEAKS PLAINLY,

When a deputation from "the Te Kuiti School Committee waited on the Minister 'of Education (the Hon. R. A. Wright) /with reference to the establishment of a promised junior high, school ■ for this district, the Minister made some very candid re 1 - marks 1 upon the commitments he inherited from his predecessor (Sir James Parr) and upon the obstacles in jthe way of carrying out a policy embarked upon without due consideration having bee!n given to the matter 'of funds.

The Cabinet, said the Minister, had decided to defer the building of any more junior high schools for a year. He went carefully (into the-, matter and |was convinced it would cost a very large sum of money to establish such schools all over New ZealanM, and he was not. going- to be a party to any expenditure that was not justified. He knew quite well that many piiimary schools lacked absolute necessaries, and these should be supplied 'first. It would be a useless policy merely to establish high schools here l and there. The) Minister then went on to say that he wished it Ito be understood that he was not opposed to junior high schools in principle, so long as the money provided for them was forthcoming. Before he had assumed office all sorts of experiments had been embarked upon before the means by which they were to "b v l carried out had been clear. As an instance, said the Minister, a highlyqualified expert was recently imported from England as director of music. As soon as he arrived he wanted a sJcaff. It was qhite right that he should have a -staff—as long as the money had been provided for it.