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It takes at least three years to train a teacher. If increased school population were to demand a sudden increase in the number of teachers, it would be necessary to •establish a fifth training college, since the existing four cannot be enlarged. Even if temporary accommodation were to be erected for the additional training college, it •could not well be ready for use much before 1948. That means that the first group of teachers trained in it could not be in service before 1951. C. SUMMARY (1) Even for present needs the school-building programme is seriously in arrears, •due to a combination of factors —the depression, the war, increased number of births, movements of population, the tendency of children to stay on longer at school, a reduction in the size of classes, and the obsolescence of . many school buildings. (2) State housing schemes have created, and will apparently continue to create, unusual demands for big school-building programmes in certain areas. (3) Recent increases in the birth-rate indicate that for the next five or six years the main problem wi}l be to provide increased primary-school accommodation. From 1952 onwards there will be simultaneous demands for considerable extra accommo<dation in both primary and post-primary schools. Preparations to meet these demands will have to begin at least three years before then. (4) Under existing conditions it appears that the only way to step up the schoolbuilding programme is to make a corresponding reduction in other building programmes. (5) If any immigration programme were to create a demand for a great increase in the number of teachers it would be necessary to give the education authorities at least four or five years' notice. (6) From the foregoing it would appear that any immigration policy involving the entrance of great numbers of children into New Zealand over the next few years could be put into operation only by adopting some or all of the following measures : (a) Stepping up the school-building programme at the expense of other building programmes : (b) Increasing the size of the classes : (c) Adopting lower standards of accommodation for schools : (d) Using untrained or partially trained teachers : (e) Reducing the length of the school-life of the average child. It may be that other factors, unrelated to education, should outweigh all that has been said about the difficulties of school staffing and accommodation that would result from a major and immediate immigration policy. It would appear that large-scale immigration involving children cannot be achieved within the next few years without a reduction in the standard of the education that is offered to children already in New VII. HOUSING At every stage of our inquiries we were faced with the problem of the housing shortage. Decentralization of industry presents some difficulties because of the shortage of houses in secondary centres ; rural employment of further married couples will be •difficult till houses are available ; immigration, even to satisfy urgent industrial demands, is undesirable until the needs of those living in New Zealand, particularly ex-servicemen, -are satisfied. Because of the above facts, it becomes necessary to consider the housing problem as it affects potential increases in population. The State Advances Corporation pointed out in evidence that there were 47,088 .applications for State rental houses in March, 1946, of which 12,955 were by ex-servicemen and 34,133 by civilians. Of these applications, 18,807 were in the Auckland Province

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