WANGANUI EDUCATION BOARD PAYS TRIBUTES TO MR. A. F. McMURTRIE

Wanganui Chronicle, 14 December 1949, Page 4

WANGANUI EDUCATION BOARD PAYS TRIBUTES TO MR. A. F. McMURTRIE

Described by the chairman o£ the Wanganui Education Board, Mr. W. B. Tennent (Palmerston North), as a man "with the rare gift of being able to carry great ability without any ostentation,’’ Mr. A. F. McMurtrie, retiring Assistant Director of Education, was the guest of the board at a luncheon in the Grand Hotel yesterday. Mr. McMurtrie, at one time senior inspector of schools in the board’s district, retires on December 23. He was Acting-Director of Education for a year while Dr. C. E. Beeby was overseas with U.N.E.S.C.O.

Many tributes were paid to Mr. MeMurtrie's work for schools in the Wanganui district and education generally, Mr. Tennent referring to hin. as “a real friend’’ and one of us.” The Wanganui' Education Board, Mr. Tennent added, had a warm leafing of affeclion for him. Present at the luncheon were six former members of the board, some of whom served during Mr. McMurtrie's term as senior inspector. They were Colonel J. H. Whyte (Palmerston North) and Messrs. P. Munro (Tauranga), A. S. Coleman (Marton), J. S. Tingey (Feilding) and J. C. Batt and W. T. Benefield, both of Wanganui. Mr. A. Crawford, senior inspector of schools who retired in 1930, was also present, others being Messrs G. P. Williamson (Wanganui Technical College Board), C. P. Bates (Wanganui Headmasters’ Association), H. Dixon, president of the Wanganui branch of the New Zealand Educational Institute and W. P- Williams, headmaster of the Tawhero School, who is also retiring.

Proposing the toast of Mr. McMurtrie, the chairman said that the retiring Assistant Director had had an outstanding career which started at the Milton District High School. After going through training college he served in various positions and came to Wanganui in 1933 as senior inspector. After a period in this district he went to the department’s head office in Wellington and rose to his present position. WORK FOR EDUCATION. Education received a fillup when Mr. McMurtie was appointed Assistant Director and it would be a goon thing if it could remain in that position for a long time yet, Mr. Tennent added. "We all feel that what he does is very good. He has the rare gift of being able to carry great ability without any ostentation and has made friends wherever he has gone,” said Mr. Tennent, Mr. J. C. Batt, speaking on behalf of the Wanganui Girls’ College Board of Governors, apologised for the absence of the chairman, Mr. G. S. Gordon, and said that 1949 would go down in the history of the college as a memorable year. After waiting for 25 years, they saw the first materials go on to the site for the building of a new college at Wanganui East and recently the board was advised that a grant for the cost of a complete new school had been approved. This had happened during Mr. McMurtrie’s term as Assistant Director and no doubt he had influenced these decisions. Mr. G. P. Williamson said that the Wanganui Technical College also had cause to be grateful to Mr. McMurtrie and conveyed to him sincere good wishes for a happy retirement. “FEAR BROKEN DOWN.” Mr. W. P. Williams said that Mr. McMurtrie had been very helpful and had done much to break down the fear which teachers and children used to have of inspectors in the old days. "I received some very good help from Mr. McMurtrie when he was senior inspector here,” said the secretary of the Education Board, Mr. G. N. Boulton. "We could always discuss various problems and the fact that he was a departmental officer and I was a board officer made no difference." “My term of office in Wanganui was the happiest in my career,” said Mr. McMurtrie. "It was also the most fruitful because I received training and experience which has stood me well on many occasions in Wellington."

For a start he was not happy after leaving Wanganui, Mr. McMurtrie added. He could not reconcile himself to the absence of children, teachers and board members. However, he had eventually become reconciled and life in Wellington had been happier. Mr. McMurtrie said that he had a great admiration for the schools in New Zealand, and for their teachers and children. He did not think that any district had better schools, particularly primary, than Wanganui. Wherever he had gone in New Zealand, however, he had always met with the greatest friendliness, courtesy and co-operation and what little he had done for education was due to this co-operation. New Zealand owed a great deal to a vast army of unpaid workers—members of school committees, education boards and primary and secondary school boards who were doing a great deal for education. “TOUGH OLD DAYS.” The educational system in New Zealand at the present time was coming in for a great deal of criticism from people who thought that the teachers and children were not the same, and that they were not being taught in the proper way. In the old days, however, schools were really tough. The discipline was tough and only the really tough ones got to the top. Schools were unpleasant and unhappy places. In New Zealand today, however, he was impressed by the smiling faces of children who were fed well, clothed well and taught well and if a child had a right to anything it was happiness during its childhood. In the old days, children were often turned out of school because they could not do well at a particular subject. “1 ant quite sure that what we arc doing now is right,” said Mr. McMcMurtrie. "I have always, believed in work and that the child should be stretched to the limits of its capacity, but a child should not be hammered because lie has not got some capacity which the system thinks he should