AF00166237 School file Burke Ward 5-15177A - Flipbook - Page 43
STRAY NOTES,
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The Schools Administration.
THE administration of the Acts and
regulations governing State education
in this Broken Hill district amounts to
nothing short of a scandal. The State
pretends to afford to every parent, in
the towns at any rate, the opportunity
to have his children educated by the
State ; yet, though the population of
Broken Hill is one which might
reasonably be expected to make very
large demands for State education,
adequate housing is provided for less
than one-third of the children of a
school-going age. A MINER correspondent yesterday referred once more to the
shameful treatment to which children
and parents in Railway Town are
subjected, and it may be quoted as a
fair sample.
He says that there is
about half enough accommodation ; so
that while half the children are inside
the building the other half are outside
—no very pleasant thing in these
winter months, especially now that the
schools observe Cape Howe time and
lessons begin at 8.30.
If children
develop pneumonia—and the continued
prevalence of that acute and most
dangerous disorder in Broken Hill
is positively alarming—and if lives are
lost, Mr. Garrard may possibly be
asked to reflect that he is not wholly
irresponsible. The Government long
ago purchased two acres of land in the
neighborhood, and, I believe, called
for tenders for the erection of a
building about three years ago ; but a
miners' strike was taken hold of as an
excuse for not going on with the work.
Mr. Thomas has seen the Minister on
the subject, and the Minister himself
saw the need of the building when he
was on the spot ; but he has apparently
done nothing.
Certainly if he has
done anything the people have not
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