One of the panels at the Maori Education seminar. From left: Messrs T. Key, B. Mitcalfe, G. Tovey and C. Whiting ment underlined the urgency of the problem. In Whangarei and Rotorua, Maoris constituted more than 60 percent of the total unemployed, while in Gisborne, more than half were Maori and in Hamilton, more than 40 percent. The reasons given by most employers for dismissing Maori workers were that Maori workers had usually been on the job for a shorter period than others, and lack of skill. The paper, based on a questionnaire sent to employers in five centres, indicated that Maori unemployment was lower in the major cities. ‘Although Maori children may be staying at schools longer, the schools themselves must change if these children are to be adequately prepared for a place in our world,’ said Mr B. Mitcalfe. ‘Maori education is not a matter of system, but of skilled understanding and effective teachers,’ said Miss K. Kaa. ‘Where are they? Are they at this gathering?’ ‘There are more than thirty thousand Maoris in Auckland.’ said Mr T. Royal. ‘Here is where the problem lies. If Auckland schools could do the job the problem would be overcome.’ ‘Special services, special provisions are necessary where special problems exist,’ said Mr D. Murray. Later, conference adopted a resolution calling for the extension of special service schools into all urban areas where rolls total more than 30 percent Polynesian, so that qualified staff and extra provisions could be made. ‘This was in accordance with a recommendation in the 1963 Commission on Education,’ said Mr G. Johnson. ‘If Maori schools have been abolished as a result of a recommendation of that Commission, then special service schools should be introduced to take their place.’ ‘We have heard of failure. Now what of the successes, what do we hear of them?’ asked Mr G. Tovey, formerly Director of the Art and Crafts Branch of the Education Department. ‘There are facets of our education system in which Maoris excel, in movement, in art, in a vision of the world without the confusion of words. Our education is too verbal. It always attempts to approximate meaning with words. The meaning that Maori artists sec—that Cliff Whiting or Selwyn Muru, both here at this conference, can convey—is an art more powerful than the art of words. These are true meanings that will live when all your words are gone.’ said Mr Tovey. Mr N. Vickridge of Te Aute College emphasised that regardless of special Maori qualities and abilities, the schools must prepare for the world, not for some ideal vision of what might be. Certain essentials remained, certain skills in language, in understanding and in work. Schools such as his own which had their pupils not for five or six hours a day, but for the full term, had a record of consistent success. Fr Kinsella of Hato Paora said that beause boarding schools removed children from their homes, it was important that the schools make a special effort to keep contact with homes, with home attitudes, home problems and ambitions. For that reason the teachers at Hato Paora each took responsibility for visiting different districts, all over the North Island, so that parents and teachers could understand each other. He said he learnt more on these holiday