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A. SUPPLY OF SCHOOL BUILDINGS I. Present Position A great many New Zealand schools, especially in the North Island, are at present full to overflowing, and there is an acute shortage of school buildings in many areas. The main reasons for this shortage are — (a) The Double Check to the School-building Programme that resulted from the Financial Depression and the War. —Far from being in a strong position to meet new demands, the Education Department is still struggling to catch up arrears. The following table shows the position in terms of capital expenditure on schools between the years 1930 and 1945 : Table No. 120.—Table showing Capital Expenditure on School Buildings Amount. Amount. Financial year ended— £ Financial year ended— £ , 31st March, 1930 .. 443,885 31st March, 1939 .. 727,078 31st March, 1931 .. 501,344 31st March, 1940 .. 851,726 31st March, 1932 .. 259,148 31st March, 1941 .. 555,572 31st March, 1933 .. 52,623 31st March, 1942 .. 465,686 31st March, 1934 .. 51,435 31st March, 1943 .. 207,391 31st March, 1935 .. 62,183 31st March, 1944 .. 236,137 31st March, 1936 .. 169,733 31st March, 1945 .. 477,393 31st March, 1937 .. 276,732 31st March, 1946 .. 1,187,546 31st March, 1938 .. 554,569 (b) The Increased Number of Births in New Zealand within recent years. The following table gives the figures from 1930 to 1945 : Table No. 121.—Table showing the Number of Live Births each Year since 1930 (exclusive of Maoris) Number Number Year. of. Births. Year. of Births. 1930 .. .. .. 26,797 1938 .. .. .. 27,249 1931 .. .. .. 26,622 1939 .. .. .. 28,833 1932 .. .. .. 24,884 1940 .. .. .. 32,771 1933 .. .. .. 24,334 1941 .. .. .. 35,100 1934 .. .. .. 24,322 1942 .. .. .. 33,574 1935 .. .. .. 23,965 1943 .. .. .. 30,311 1936 .. .. .. 24,837 1944 .. .. .. 33,599 1937 .. .. .. 26,014 1945 .. .. .. 37,007 It will be seen that the schools, which had become adapted to an intake of 24,000 to 26,000 pupils a year had, within a very short time, to cater for an intake of 35,000. The number of births in New Zealand rose by 46 per cent, between the years 1935 and 1941. The infant-rooms are this year trying to cope with the peak intake from the record number of births in 1941. It should be noted, however, that even yet the total primary school roll (195,799 in 1944), although higher than the 191,662 for 1935, is still well below the peak figure of 213,048 for 1931. Much of the accommodation used in 1931, of course, is now obsolete or demolished, but much more has been rendered useless by the drift of population from the South to the North, and from the central city areas to the suburbs. (c) Movements of Population.—The relatively rapid increase of population in the North Island has created school-building problems in some areas that are much greater than the gross figures for the Dominion would show. In the Auckland metropolitan area, for example, the increase in the number of births between 1935 and 1941 was 86 per cent., which means that in 1946 the Department has to provide in that area for 1,450 more entrants to the infant-schools than in 1940. The corresponding increase for Wellington City and the Hutt Valley was 67 per cent.

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