EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES.

Waikato Times, Volume 98, Issue 15315, 16 August 1923, Page 5

EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES.

NEEDS OF AUCKLAND. £1,000.000 LOAN SUGGESTED. WELLINGTON BOARD DUBIOUS. By Telegraph.—Press Association. WELLINGTON, Wednesday. The condition of the schools and teachers’ residences in the Auckland district was revealed in a letter from the Auckland Education Board to the Education Department, a copy of which was furnished to the Wcllihgton Education Board and considered to-day. The letter emphasised the lack of accommodation for teachers in rural areas. In one case a teacher with three children was living in a disused shelter shed. In many rural areas it was quite impossible for settlers to find accommodation for even a single teacher, and no house could be found for married teachers. The need for residences in rural areas was imperative. Regarding the lack of school accommodation, the Department had determined that the minimum ffoor space for a pupil in average attendance should be 12 square feet. Since 1916 in Auckland the average attendance had grown from 42,000 to nearly 56,00/), and the accommodation had not been extended to meet this increase. The co-operation of the Wellington Board was requested in an agitation for a loan of £1,000,000 for the purposes mentioned. Members expressed .sympathy with the Auckland Board, but decided that the present moment was not opportune to raise a £1,000,000 loan for the purpose specified. '