MINUTES  OF  EVIDENCE. 1?{

8078. What  are  their  viewg  with  regard   to  the  constitution  of  that     Oiri  Local
■authority  P— Thoy  say  that  there  should'  be  one  authority  only,  and  they  ViaSiTijSf
think  that  this  is  essential. They  say  that  it  is  essential  in  order  to     Sbcoitdast
secure  efficiency  in  schools,  heoause  the  secondary  schools  at  present  are     EDt:cA.Tiov,
under  no  proper  control  or  really  effective  supervision. They  say  that

if  there  were  two  aulhorities  to  control  education,  one  primary  and  one
secondary,  there  would  be  undue  competition  between  the  two  authorities,
:as  there  is  at  present  hetween  those  administering  the  money  that  is
generally  called  the  whisky  money,  and  the  school  boards. The  authorities
clash  at  present,  and  there  is  a  great  deal  of  overlapping. The  county
counoils  are  doing  work  that  the  school  boards  are  doing. The  school
boards,  being  the  first  in  the  field,  think  that  they  have  a  right  to
do  the  work. They  think  that  if  there  were  one  authority  instead
of  there  being  competition  there  would  be  co-ordination,  and  that  the  one
authority  would  be  able  to  establish  various  classes  of  schools  instead  of
there  being  rivalry,  and  the  two  authorities  establishing  the  same  cla^s
of  schools. They  say,  too,  that  at  present  there  is  no  convenient  passage
from  school  to  school ;  that  those  persons  who  know  the  children  in  the
elementary  schools  know  which  of  them  would  benefit  by  Secondary
JBdncation;  that  if  there  were  an  authority  for  Secondary  Education
only,  that  authority  would  have  no  knowledge  of  the  wants  and  desires  of
the  parents  of  the  children  in  elementary  schools,  and  that  therefore  the
arrangements  would  be  made  by  persons  who  did  not  realW  know  what
-was  best  for  the  education  of  the  children  of  the  country. Ijiey  say,  too,
that  it  is  very  much  better  that  things  should  grow  naturally  rather  than
that  they  should  start  from  two  different  points ;  that  if  there  were  a
local  authority  to  control  Secondary  Education,  it  would  deal  really
more  with  a  class  of  people  than  with  the  whole  of  the  people ;  and  that
it  would  be  really  class  education  rather  than  Secondary  Education. They
«ay,  too,  that  a  great  deal  of  energy  would  be  wasted  as  well  as  public  and
private  money,  and  there  would  be  a  great  deal  of  overlapping. 