SATURDAY DECEMBER 11, 1875.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume III, Issue 332, 11 December 1875, Page 2

SATURDAY DECEMBER 11, 1875.

“ The Savings Bank in the School,” is the title of a pamphlet lately received by us from Messrs. Febgusson and Mitchell, Printers and Publishers, Dunedin, with a request that we should review it. The contents of this pamphlet appeared in Macmillans Magazine, a few months ago —the production being that of Mr. J. G. Fitch, of London, one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors of Schools. Mr. Fitch, on a recent visit to Ghent, Belgium, made himself familiar with the details of a remarkable experiment now being carried on in connection with the schools of that city. Ghent is a thriving town of about 121,000 souls, and contains many schools, which are said to be very efficient, and are under the supervision of a Communal Council. Some seven years ago it occurred to M. Lauhent, the Professor of Civil Law in the University of that town, that much might be done through the agency of the Primary Schools, io familiarise the people, while young, with habits of economy and forethought. He accordingly called the teachers of the Ghent public schools together, explained to them his plans, and, having inspired them with some of his own enthusiasm on the subject, proceeded, with their full concurrence, to visit the schools one by one, in order to give simple economic lessons to the children. He went from class to class enforcing and illustrating the advantages ef saving, and showing how it might be practised. A plan was devised by which the principal teacher of each school undertook to receive the little savings of the children from day to day, even a single centime (about the tenth part of a penny) at a time. By this simple arrangement the opportunity of making little savings was brought closely within the reach of every child of the Ghent schools, and the moral influence of gentle and kind persuasion was brought to bear by Professor Laurent and the teachers, with singular success. The number of children attending these schools is said to be 15,392, and out of this total, the sum of £18,522 was deposited by the juveniles in the Savings Bank, in four years. As soon as the deposits of a pupil amount to a franc (tenpence) be receives a Savings Bank book, and a deposit account is opened in his name v. ith the State Savings Bank, which gives interest at the rate of three per cent. Simple books and cards of account are provided by the administration of the bank, and the children receive duplicates to be carried home from time to time for the information of their parents, but generally to be preserved at the school. The signature of a parent or guardian is required whenever any money is to be withdrawn. , This Simple and judicious experiment initiated and carried forward bv Professor Laurent, and his friends in the Belgian schools, is recommended for consideration and adoption in New Zealand ; and a Society is now being formed in Dunedin for that purpose, with every prospect of success. It is proposed that a Savings Bank be established in connection with every primary school in the colony; and the co-operation of clergymen and teachers is earnestly solicited in that direction. The pamphlet concludes aS follows :—

That great results ean be accomplished with the aid of the teachers, even with the resources at the command of the scholars in the district schools, is manifest from the fact that upwards of 10,000 children in a single town, where the earnings of the parents are far below those of the colony, have saved sums averaging 30s each, ft is very probable that very little, if any, of this money would have found its way to the bank but for the agency of the school. The work is one the success of which will depend on the spontaneous efforts of the teachers, combined with those of the school committees, and the influence brought to boar upon children individually by benevolent and thoughtful people. Each province in NewZealand, can now boa st of a well-orgauized system of public instruction, but even with that here is still much room forthe exercise of that personal zeal and that affectionate interest in the welfare of the scholars which hare always characterised both the parochial and the voluntary systems in the old country, and for the exercise of such exertions, here is one field in which the harvest truly may be great. In proportion as our schools increase in number, and the advantages of education become better understood, so will school attendance be prolonged and the number be greater; in like ratio a larger proportion of children become amenable to such simple reasonings and influences as have proved so efficacious at. Ghent, And

those who will take the trouble to associate themselves with the teachers in bringing the Savings Banks into the school, and making the simple arrangements by which the business part of the matter may be done smoothly and in proper Order, may fulfil a most useful function. They will aid the work of true education in an effectual way, not only by thus giving practical and. experimental lessons in economic science to the scholars, but also by enlarging their comprehensions and increasing their power of self-control. It is, however, not a panacea. If adopted ever so earneslly and successfully, it will leave much improvidence unremedied; but in its daily practice as part of the discipline pf life, it may, with the Divine blessing, prove one instrument for establishing such a basis of character in the rising youth of New Zealand as shall elevate the whole of their social and moral life.