Heritage Education focus for Kohukohu School

The Heritage of Education is the theme of this year’s International Day for Monuments and Sites on April 18 – a day that highlights and celebrates different aspects of heritage, organised by ICOMOS (the International Council on Monuments and Sites).

And according to the NZ Historic Places Trust’s Northland Area Manager, Bill Edwards, one historic building in Kohukohu fits the education heritage criteria perfectly.

“The former Kohukohu School building provides a link to the history of education in the Hokianga stretching back to when it was built in 1883 – just six years after the passing of the Education Act of 1877 which made free, secular primary education compulsory in New Zealand,” says Bill.

“The schoolhouse was built in response to changing attitudes to education, and economic growth that began in the late 1800s driven by the kauri timber industry and dairying, which saw Kohukohu’s population grow from about 50 people in 1870 to over 600 people in 1910.”

Although Kohukohu School officially opened in April 1881, lessons were held in temporary premises, and it wasn’t until 1883 that the school building itself opened for business. With its shingle roof and space for 60 pupils it wasn’t long before demand outstripped the building’s ability to deliver. In response to an ever-increasing roll, the porch was extended twice to meet demand for classroom space.

By 1902, the average attendance at school was 86 pupils – almost half as many more students than what the school was built to cater for. The Education Board grudgingly built a second classroom, which was almost immediately filled by the school’s growth.

By 1914, the roll had reached 139 – Standards 3-7 in one classroom; 63 primers in the other classroom; and Standards 1-2 still stuck in the school porch.

In time, the school’s main problem was not space, but rather the condition of the school buildings which needed urgent repair, and which were being affected by sinking foundations and undulating floors.

“The condition of the school was such that when a quick-thinking newspaper boy prevented the school from burning to the ground one early morning in 1958 by dousing it with a bucket of water there was mixed reaction, with some people suggesting that the old buildings should have been left to burn down,” says Bill.

“The condition of the school continued to deteriorate until the Education Board was effectively shamed into building a new school in 1972 after a media campaign outlined the various problems with the old facility – including ground subsidence that continually broke the drains from the toilets.”

The community was determined, however, that the original Kohukohu School building would survive and be available for community use. In recent times, the Department of Conservation has repiled the school house and carried out other work on the building, and today, the Kohukohu School building continues to be a centre for the community 130 years after it opened.

According to Jenny May, the Chair of ICOMOS New Zealand, the International Day for Monuments and Sites seeks to encourage local communities and individuals around the world to consider the importance of cultural heritage to their lives, identities and communities.

“Education in New Zealand was practised in a wide range of places – including isolated settlements like Kohukohu in the Hokianga. Buildings and sites associated with early education initiatives – like the former Kohukohu School building – are a significant part of our social and cultural heritage,” she says.

“The International Day for Monuments and Sites provides a good opportunity for us to reflect on the very important part education has played in the evolution of our cultural and built heritage.”

ENDS

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