A SUGGESTION.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume III, Issue 495, 7 November 1881, Page 1

A SUGGESTION.

TO THE EDITOR. g IR Good as our educational system may be, it cannot be said to really favor the religious welfare of the young. It rather tends to the absorption of all the time and vigor of the children, and to the subordinating of all their home and domestic duties to those which arc scholastic. It is a strange turning of tables that some parents have to consult the relation of their children to their teachers and examinations, before they are at liberty to command their services for themselves. There is surely a simple way out of the religious difficulty without the sacrifice o any principle, conscience, time, or talent, or the lowering in any way the system of secular education now in operation, ijet the State teaching be four days weekly, instead of five ; the Wednesday of every week could then be utilised by the various, bodies with whom the religious training of the young properly rests ; and the Saturdays remain as at present for home duties,. Schools would not suffer by this, but greatly benefit, and the persons who teach i£rom devotedness to their work would highly repay the country for their weekly

release. The schools, as a rule, would ■not be required dh the Wednesdays, ex- ■■ cepfc where ,there are no churches—and a sanitary benefit would, in some cases, accrue by the. children’s absence. Perhaps someone .Will take the trouble to think out this suggestion.—l am, etc., ! Nov. 7,1881. W. Keaix.: