ALEXANDRA FROM "A MOTHER'S" POINT OF VIEW,

Tuapeka Times, Volume VI, Issue 325, 28 January 1874, Page 3

ALEXANDRA FROM "A MOTHER'S" POINT OF VIEW,

, (To the Editor) SIR; — So the yea* 1873 has gone with all its joys and sorrows, and 1874 has been ■ ÜBhered in and celebrated according to each one's fancy. The happiness of individuals is better balanced than most people imagine, for if the joys of tb3s place are small, their sorrows are Still smaller. The great Event of this year has been 'tne ' examination of the school children, which has been particularly agreeable to all parties, as one in each family received a prize either for the number of marks Or for some special excellence. The reason there were only two prizes given to the Bth claw was that the class [is composed only o£ two. Great credit is due to the teacher for the efficient progress the children have made for the last twelve months, especially in the Mgher branches: A meeting was held in the Schoolroom, on the 12th instant, to receive 'the report of the retiring Committee, and eledt a new one. There were only twelve pereens present. It is strange the apathy displayed by parents about the future of their children, .and stranger still the interest so many take in it who have no children attending school, and, indeed, no interest in education except the very material one of supplying the daily wants of the teachers. If

parents displayed the same energy in seeing their children properly educated that business men do in seeing their customers properly supplied, the benefit to themselves and their children twenty years hence would be incalculable. ■ Many years ago an acre of ground was' fenced in for a garden round the schoolhouse. The contract price was £100 -, but after repeated trials, the ground was found to be perfectly useless for the purpose of vegetation, for not even a tussock can find a home there. A feeble effort was made by the parents, especially those who live a distance from the school, to get a portion partitioned off for the use of the girls and young children ; but each year has found the girls on the Flat, and the teachers safely ensconsed btTiind the high fence. I have often seen a crowd of little children huddled into a cave, which seems to have been left there by Nature for the purpose of shelter, while the teachers and some of our local magnates stood protected by the high enlosure from the blinding J dust, serenely watching the equine gambols of a favorite race horse race, who no doubt would gladly have exchanged with the girls his confined area for a gambol on the flat. Herculean efforts have been made lately to get this state of things alterod, and the. late Committee gave great promise of succeeding ; and so far as the raising of funds weut, no previous one could at all compare with them, as they have £20 in hand after paying all expenses. They have also showed an anxiety to promote the education of the children in quite an original manner. When the necessity of doing something for the girls was discussed, the Committee came to the unanimous conclusion that the best manner of refining tho manners of the little girls and exalting the minds of the elder ones was to purchase two American coolciug stoves, one for the master and the other for the mistress' private use. Indeed, so far have they carried out their theory of the comfort of the teachers, and thereby I suppose increasing that of the children by reaction, that the schoolroom wears quite a houselike appearance, being furnished with table and chairs. lam inclined to think that in the last item of school furniture mentioned they have gone a step too far, as it is against the rule 3of the Education Board to impart instruction sitting. Although the chair may add to the comfort of the mistress, it certainly destroys her efficiency as a teacher, because the children have to wait upou her instead of her attending to tlie children. Some of the older girls have left the sewing room as a waste of time ; while others amuse themselves by counting how many stitches they are allowed to take in so many weeks. If this method don't improve their sewing, it may their arithmetic, which perhaps after all was the ebd the Committee sought to attain ; but great things are expected of the new Committee, as it is the cream of the community who are this time elected. If these fail, I think the girls will bo juetifiocl in potifciooiu^ the Education Board for protection. — I am, &c, A Mother.