158 Rural Education in our Viliage Schools. 



It is now proposed to deal in some detail with the answers 

 received. The first qvxestion was answered as follows : — Three 

 answers were entirely and five partly satisfactory, while one 

 was a qualified and nineteen absolute negatives. Seven papers 

 either failed to afford an answer or gave only an indefinite one. 

 These figures speak tor themselves, and need no comment. 



The answers to the second part of the first question are not 

 easy to summarise. It may, however, be said that no one of 

 the thirty-five answers speaks of any teaching being given 

 which might enable " the children to realise any advantage 

 there may be in a career on the land in the rural districts as 

 against a life spent in a town or city." It is true that two of 

 the thirty-five correspondents express themselves generally 

 as satisfied, but there is no definite information showing that 

 the teachers have treated of the subject in school. It is 

 possible— it may be reasonable — to contend that such teaching 

 is not included in school subjects. It strikes one, however, as 

 very desirable to consider the advisability of introducing it as a 

 matter for instruction in, at any rate, the evening continuation 

 classes. Having been lucky enough, when lecturing to them, 

 to make the acquaintance of many village schoolmasters, one 

 is forced to believe that very little thought has been given to 

 the point by the authorities. It would seem very desirable to 

 let the elder children know such things as that large cities are 

 not composed solely of mansions ; that fine bridijes spanning 

 noble rivers often lead from park-like open spaces on one bank, 

 to unhealthy slums on the other ; and that vegetables in a 

 greengrocer's shop are possibly not so nice, and are certainly 

 more costly than those grown in a village garden. In the 

 advanced classes it might be -advisable to contrast earnings, 

 rent, and the general health conditions of town and country. 

 Obviously such teaching would require tact and judgment. 

 As books dealing with the matter have been written, it must be 

 possible at certain centres to institute lectures on such subjects 

 for rural schoolmasters. No one, whether connected with the 

 country or the town, can complain if the boys and girls in the 

 village schools have through their education a better chance of 

 gauging their future prospects, for it is common knowledge • 

 that some who now leave for the towns do not gain materially 

 themselves, and if not actually an incubus, are certainly no 

 great ornament to the State. On the other hand, some know- 

 ledge of what to expect from life in a city cannot deter those 

 most suited to town work from seeking it. A great ditficulty 

 is that it means another subject for the master to master, and 

 for the learner to learn, but discussion with those who can 

 speak with authority entitles one to say that the matter is of 

 sufficient importance to be worthy of serious consideration. 



