EDUCATION BOARD.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXVIII, Issue 3910, 25 September 1873, Page 2

EDUCATION BOARD.

•TO THE EDITOR OP THE INDEPENDENT. Sir, — Again the Catholics of Wellington are threatened by the Education Board to have their two schools amalgamated. It was stated, says the report, that the rate of expense entailed by the two Roman Catholic schools in Wellington annually in salaries was £425, while the. average attendance was only 101. This calls for an explanation, which will consist in mere exposition of facts, and will sufficiently enlighten the public on the subject.

Eight months ago the trustees of the Protestant schools in Wellington, having very little objection, to the conditions of the Board, hastened to put those schools under their patronage and management. The Protestant schools were thereby created free schools. Children flocked to them. What they gained must have been lost to other establishments : for instance, the . boys' school of St. Mary's, which at that very time had ninety-five p\ipils, came down to sixty. Some months .after, the Catholics—anxious to avail themselves of the pecuniary advantages of the Education Act, and to secure a share of public rates — appealed to the Board to have their schools placed under their control. Negotiations were long and vexatious ; concessions were made on both sides. At last the Roman Catholic schools of Wellington were accepted by the Board. St. Philomena's school, for the girls, was one of them. Despite the submission of the latter to the terms agreed upon, it was soon dropped by the Board, for reasons not well understood, and certainly never put in writing. At all events, it would seem that they should continue to recognise and retain the two boys' schools, St Mary's and St Joseph's. No such thing. We have reckoned without the scruples of the gentlemen of the Education Board. A month after the conchision of the arrangements they began to talk of amalgamating the Catholic schools ; and now they bring back again the subject. Behold the sword of Damocles suspended by a thread over our devoted heads ! What have we done to merit such treatment 1 What has happened to justify their tearing off the mutual agreement 1 . The number of our pupils is small. Gentlemen of the Board, it is now smaller than when you took us. Did you not know what you were about at the time of your engagement 1 So soon after you would outlaw or maim us. The average attendance of our schools is only 101. Well, I went out purposely to visit them to-day-. Despite the unsettled state of the weather I found 54 boys at St Mary's, and at St Joseph's 70 out of 90 who are on the roll. Let the Board depute somebody to verify my statement. But if our boys are inferior in number, whose fault is it 1 or who, have partly at least, to account for it 1 The very gentlemen who are so anxious of amalgamating oar children. Before Protestant schools were publicly supported and made free our schools were flourishing. St Mark's reckoned its 95 pupils. Whilst we maintained school fees and they offered the bait of gratuity, we must have lost, they must have gained ; and it is hard to. bring back again those who went away from us. But should we be punished or treated harshly because for conscientious motives, we have put ourselves late in the hands of the Board ? Shall it be worse with us, for not having made one start with our separated brethren 1 The Board have spent a thousand, pounds, and are likely to spend more, for buildings, for improvements of the present schools in the sole city of Wellington, and, I suppose, nearly another thousand for their teachers, and they grudge £575 (£425 for Wellington, and £150 for Wanganui) for salaries of teachers of Catholic schools in the province. £575 ! Is this a fair share of the education rates- for the Roman Catholics 1 When the Board tells us that in salaries alone they give us £425 a year, they imply that we are recipient of money for some other purposes. Not at all. They did not pay for a single nail used in the construction of St Joseph's school ; and as for St Mary's, the only item of expense was a pipe added to the chimney two or three months ago, and not yet repaid by the Board. — I am, &c, An Inspector of St Mary's and

St Joseph's School,