TEACHING AT HUNTLY

Waikato Times, Volume 107, Issue 17992, 10 April 1930, Page 9

TEACHING AT HUNTLY

REQUEST TO MINISTER.

TECHNICAL FACILITIES NEEDED. CONSOL,;..'.'.'ION A SOLUTION. The demand, for increased for technical education at Hunt y the ideal of consolidation were R ~ rninent in representations ma^ e ™ Hon. H. Atmore. Minister of Eduction, bv a deputation from the Hunt y School Committee at the Huntly lown Hall last evening. „ hnn , Mr G. Smith, chairman of the School Committee, who was introduced by Mr W. Lee Martin, M.P. for the district, emphasised the need for more technical and practical work without a diminution of the academic facilities. Many parents had been urgin B this reform and had expressed a desire for the introduction of night technical classes. ' .. "In the secondary department me tendency is for many pupils to go m for a commercial course," said Scott, headmaster of the Huntly School. There was a difficulty in obtaining an instructor, and the sclioo had provided a modified course to maintain the attendance. There were about 19 pupils anxious to take up the commercial course. Fifteen scho - ars went every day to Hamilton for technical instruction and four took a course in typing and shorthand at the local Convent. Eighteen children were now learning off one typewriter. The School of Mines would also be considerably assisted by the provision of a technical department. Mr Scott’s remarks were endorsed by Messrs Shaw and Northmore, members of the committee. Supporting the representations, Mr Lee Martin said the population of Huntly was 1700 and that of Ngaruawahia 800. Was it reasonable that Huntly children should have to attend primary technical classes at the small-

er town? \ , ... Mr W. C. E. George, chairman or tlie Huntly Town Board, said some years ago Huntly raised a sum or a technical school. After prolonged negotiations the money was returned but Huntly had no school. Huntly was the natural centre of the district. Mr George expressed 'his pleasure on behalf of the townspeople at the Minister’s visit. “We would like some idea of the Department’s intentions regarding consolidation,” said Mr Smith. He added that the people of Pukekawhia had asked for means for sending then children into Huntly for better schoo - ing facilities. He reminded the Minister that the committee had already expended about £3OO on improving the school grounds. The Minister Replies. Replving, the Minister said while he personally was wholeheartedly mJavour of consolidation, he could give no definite assurance until the report of the Education Committee was presented to Parliament within 14 days ol the opening of the session. Consolidation was the only means of making the educational advantages of Bie smaUcr and rural districts equal to those of the large centres. It was impossible to pay adequate salaries to teachers and provide sufficient equipment for a big number of children withou consolidation. . That he had already opened several | consolidated schools was stated by Mr Atmore, who paid a tribute James Parr for his pioneer efforts i. this direction. There was not i .single instance in which children had been brought to attend a consolidated school where a desire was expressed for a reversion to the old conditions. Proof had also been given that ch id ren who had been attending consolidated schools had made notable advances, especially in coun 1> cl * c “The class of school you want hci . is an intermediate one added the Minister. He then went cm to rek t 0 me wonderful outcome of the mi dane and Iladdow commissions, Sad resulted in a complete revision of the educational system in Great I tain They had found in the Old Country that the policy of directing first-class brains into academic chan- , alone »s a eveons pol.oy. “We can never be a. big manuiac sigrSErSi SuTe increasinglhe cost Sond^yStries byTrying: to meet the keen competition of . which go in for big-scale production. She has almost made her primary industries subsidiary to her seconda industries. In New Zealand our purchasing power must come \ d » production of wealth on the land.

History of Depression. 1 Mr Atmore went on to trace the l history of depression in the Dominion. Depression was nearly always. J I when the big landowners occupied the Treasury benches. He cited the stance o*f the late John McKenzie, who had initiated a vigorous land sett e ment policy which brought P ro( - il tion ahead of population and resulted ’ in 21 years of unbroken prospo , sudh as the Dominion has not enjoyed since Instead, for 16 years the country had suffered from the domination of the Treasury (benches by the representatives of the large estates who refused to follow the policy they were advocating by cutting up their own land. And after 1C years ' ■illpeed farmers’ Government, the lion. O J llawken, Minister of Agriculture at the end of the Reform regime admitted that they could get.no one to go on the land. This had been followed by “dumping” 48,000 immigrants, who were unable to take up land through the situation created. These were some of the chief causes or unemployment in the Dominion o In the past it had been customary' to regard the farmer as the last ray on the social horizon, hut the coun- , ley soon knew what depended on Hie I farmer when there was a drop in wool and butler prices. He had been informed by Sir Georso Julius, a New Zealand engineer of eminence who had made his mark in Australia, that Australia was trying to get prosperity for its primary industries by overdeveloping its secondary industries New Zealand was following the same

line. Huntly’s Problems. Referring again to Iluntly’s problems, the Minister said Rio intermediate school was the most advanced and suitable type for Huntly. He agreed that it was undesirable that primary scholars should have to go to a private school to get commercial training. “The principle of allowing a private school to take precedence over a . mitotic school is absolutely wrong,” .

added Mr Atmore. “In a few years I will make the State school a more dangerous competitor of private schools than it has ever been.” lie said Huntly would have to wait some months before the proposal could be reviewed, but he c'ould assure the deputation 1/hat the school would bo able to have a commercial course in the near future. He spoke of the co-operation from school committees and members of Parliament during his tour of the country, and went on to elaborate his views on unification of control which have been previously published. On behalf of Lhe committee, Mr. Smith conveyed thanks for the sympathetic consideration offered by the Minister. Mr Lee Martin said the Minister had agreed with him that there was a great future for the Raglan electorate when much of the land was opened up. The Minister’s visit had brought hope and encouragement to large numbers of settlers, and when Mr Atmore spoke about the agricultural bias and the need for opening up more land he had his (Mr Martin’s) wholehearted support. IMr F. Lye, M.P., for Waikato, said it had been a pleasure to he associated with the Minister on the tour through the electorate. They could all 00-operatc on educational matters and as far as party politics were concerned he would say there was more of that outside the House than in it. He agreed with Mr Martin that the Huntly district had immense possibilities. It was only a matter of time when the mining industry would be a secondary consideration and the land towards Rotowaro would be fully developed. A healthy, happy, rural population would then grow up around Huntly. Before the Minister withdrew, Mr George said he had wished a larger audience had heard the Minister. He felt if there had been any opponents of consolidation present they would have been convinced against their will. MORE GROUNDS URGED. A further matter brought to the notice of the Minister of Education by the Huntly School Committee last evening was the necessity for enlarging the present playgrounds. Mr K. S. Caldwell said there were 450 children at the school and about 30 at the adjacent high school. The land only covered 4J acres and the growth of attendance made extensions inevitable shortly. The area could he increased to 5J acres by the acquiring of adjacent land. If the consolidation policy of the Department was followed more room would be imperative. Tie assured the Minister that if the Department secured the ground the committee would lose no time in making improvements. The Minister, in reply, told the deputation to ascertain the lowest price at which the land could be acquired and the Department would then go into the matter. There were schools in a worse position than Huntly regarding groilids but he recognised the need and would advise them in due course.