EDUCATING THE MAORI

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19998, 15 November 1927, Page 12

EDUCATING THE MAORI

TE A UTE AND HUKARERE GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE. The needs of the Maori secondary schools for further assistance from the Government, and in particular the Te Ante Boys’ College and the Hukarerc Girls’ School, formed the text for an interesting speech in the House of Representatives on Thursday by the member for the Eastern Maori District, Str Apirama Ngata. Incidentally he spoke of the necessity for the keying of the Education Department to enable the Maori race to adapt itself to the needs of a rapidly advancing community like New Zealand. Sir Apirama’s remarks were apropos of a clause in the “Washing Up Bill,”’ authorising the admission of children from the Cook Islands and Western Samoa to the Te Aute Boys’ College and tho Hukarere Girls’ College. He pointed out that the expenses of maintaining children in these schools had increased in recent years, the costs having gone up, especially at Te Aute, where owing to the building after a lire the overhead charges had been considerably increased. Under the circumstances discretion would need to be used in regard to the number of children that were to be admitted from the islands to Te Aute and Hukarere. They must not be admitted to the detriment of the Maori children at Te Ante. The cost of maintaining scholarship boys has gone up considerably. The scolarships had been increased; from £3O to £4O, but the cost of a student at Te Aute was nearly £6O a year. He suggested that the,.scholarships should be increased to £4O a year. They had been met with the objection that these schools were church schools but the reason was that the trust was handed over in the early days before there was any Education Department in New Zealand. The revenue from tho endowment was £7OOO a year, but owing to the increasing demand for education and the increasing cost these institutions were now languishing and the department was not keeping pace with the demand for increased subsidies. Incidentally he expressed the opinion that the Government would be faced’ with a native unemployment problem which might be accentuated by the indigence and constitutional laziness of the Maori and his difficulty in keeping up with the pakeha in the rush of modern civilisation- They should keep up the Education Department to enable this race to adapt itself to a rapidly advancing community like New Zealand. A well concerted and. well thought out plan should come from the Education Department in this connection.