THE GLOBE. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1881. THE BOARDING-OUT OF INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL CHILDREN.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2164, 1 February 1881, Page 2

THE GLOBE. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1881. THE BOARDING-OUT OF INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL CHILDREN.

One of our great social problems is connected with the question of dealing with such children as are, at present, sent to our industrial schools. The objections to industrial schools are many and various, and lights that can be thrown on any system calculated to remove the principal drawbacks to the one now in vogue must be very welcome. The Government have published extracts from a report made by the Inspector-General of Schools to the Minister of Education, and the remarks and information contained therein are of such a valuable and interesting nature that we shall make no apology for referring to them at some length. In New South Wales, wo are told, the Government has, so far, favored large schools, but, through private benevolence, successful experiments are now being made, both on the “ cottage home ” system, and by way of boarding out. Indeed, the Inspector of Charities in Sydney is strongly impressed with the superiority of tho boarding-out system. But it is in Victoria, apparently, that the system has obtained its fullest development. There it is carried out on such a scale that the number of children in the industrial schools is small as compared with the extent of tho building accommodation and the staff which it is still necessary to maintain. Four or five years ago, wo are informed, there were considerably more than 2000 in the school, and it was expected that by this time there would be 3000, but at present there are only about 800. At the end of

1878 there were 870 in industrial schools, while 1250 were boarded out. Five shillings a week is paid to each “ fosterparent,” and at this rate respectable people of the working classes are so willing to receive children that at the present time the office has on hand 300 applications that cannot bo mot. Committees of ladies are formed in many districts,who interest themselves in finding homes for the children, and who visit the homes to see that they are well cared for. Ministers of religion also assist in the supervision. The children attend the public schools, and the teachers report on their attendance and progress. The Inspector has the right of visiting the homes of the foster-parents. As to the special advantages claimed for the boarding out system, the report gives the following:— “ Children who are hoarded out associate naturally with other children in the homes and at school. They acquire habits of self-reliance that cannot be formed in the seclusion of an institution which is a kind of prison. They come to look upon their foster-parents as their natural guardians, protectors, and counsellors, and the home becomes a starting point and a rallying point for them as they enter naturally into the ordinary relations of common every day life. It is found that the homes in which they are placed are improved in their general tone by the influence of the lady visitors, and that parents who were content to let the State maintain their children in schools, become jealous of the influence of foster-parents, and strive to become worthy to care for their own offspring.” ■With regard to the general regulations for the apprenticing, licensing, and boarding out of children, the following may be specially noted. There are districts placed under the supervision of “ Visiting Committees,” the said committees representing, as far as possible, all the denominations established in their respective districts. Every child must be visited at least once in every six weeks by a member of the committee, who shall report in writing to tho committee on the results of tho visit, and tho various reports shall bo sent quarterly by the committee to tho Inspector of Industrial and Reformatory Schools. Protestant children shall only be placed under the care of Protestant persons, and Cathelic children under that of Catholics. There are a number of conditions attached to the boarding-out of children to ensure that respectable persons are employed as foster parents, and that the conditions of their homes are satisfactory, and their residences must not be more than two miles from a State school. No boarders or lodgers (children or adults) other than the children boarded for tho Government may bo received by foster-parents, nor may a foster-parent or her husband be the holder of any license for the sale of fermented or spirituous liquors, nor may any member of her family hold such license for premises situated within three miles of her residence. The children must attend school regularly, and the foster-parents are expected to look after their moral and religions A medical officer is appointed for each district, who must visit the children in his district not less than once in every three months, and he must attend them in case of illness or accident. He has to report any deficiency in accommodation, any defects in the sanitary condition of tho residences or any insufficiency in food or clothing, or absence of cleanliness. In his report of 1879 the Victorian Inspector speaks in the highest terms of tho manner in which the ladies in the committees do their work. The vote for that year for Victoria for boarding out was £19,000, but that sum was found inadequate by £ISOO. In South Australia the Chairman of tho Destitute Poor Department has the following in his report dated August, 1880 — “ The boarding out system still assures us most convincingly of the wisdom of thus dealing with the children of tho State, and it is the Board’s aim so fully to push this branch of its operations as to lessen considerably the number of children at Magill, and make that establishment more of a receiving home, from which to draft off the children as speedily as may be to the moat desirable private homes throughout the colony.” The chairman, • too, speaks in tho warmest terms of the exertions of the various committees, and states that their visits, added to the official visits made from tho Department, are of tho greatest value. Such are some of the features of tho boarding-out system brought clearly before the public by the report of our Inspector - General of Schools. Our readers will at once recognise the value of the suggestions contained therein, Tho Industrial School at Burnham, although no doubt managed as well as circumstances will allow, certainly does not fulfil all the conditions that are required by the benevolent when taking thought for our destitute and neglected children. Tho boarding-out system might well bo taken into serious consideration by Parliament. As seen, it acts admirably in Australia, and there is no reason why it should not bo employed on a largo scale in New Zealand