The Wairarapa Daily. THURSDAY, JULY 26, 1883. HOME LESSONS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 5, Issue 1441, 27 July 1883, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. THURSDAY, JULY 26, 1883. HOME LESSONS.

At the late meeting of the Education Board Mr Bunny did good service by calling attention to the abuse of the home lesson system in connection with our public schools. The Times reports his shrewd and pertinent remarks on this occasion in the following terms : The subject of home lessons provoked n short but rather animated discussion on Wednesday at the mealing of the Education Board, when a motion was proposed by Mr Bunny to the effect that the imposition of home work be left in the hands of each School Committee. Mr Bunny spoke more particularly in the the interests of country folks when he said that children were quite exhausted at night after having struggled over the tasks set them to do at home, and were frequently unfitted for the noxt day's wvrk at school in consequence, Two or three masters in the Wairarapa District declined to give the children attending their schools home-work, and Mr Lee, the Inspector, he remarked, had expressed himself as being diametrically opposed to the home-task system, For his (Mr Bunny's) part he strongly objected to his house being turned into a school, and to his being turned into an unpaid schoolmaster, because masters or teaohers wer9 either incompetent or too inert to do. the work they were paid to do. Dr Newman remarked that it was preposterous to suppose that boys of from twelve to fifteen years of age should not have home work to do; whilst the Eev J. Pulorson considered .that some light lessons, with a view to the exercise of memory, would be quite sufficient for learning at home. The feeling of the Board appeared to be that in many schools the home work was too severe. Eventually it was decided to leave the matter in the bands of the Inspector, Mr Leo. We have, on a former occasion, referred to the manner in which children are overtaxed with extra lessons outaide the school hours; pointing out that the mental capacity of young people is limited, and that the five hours per diem spent within the schoolroom is ample for all they require in the way of study, and that forcing more mental work out of them is calculated to injure them both mentally and physically. The evil is one which it is hard to check, and for this reason we are thankful for Mr Bunny's vigoroas attack upon it, Teachers straining for passes naturally ■■favor a home lesson system, and parents do not dislike it because it is an easy way of keeping children quiet during long evenings. The consequence is that children become, as Mr Bunny reports,, exhausted over night tasks, and there is no one to take their part and protect them from what frequently is squivalent to slow torture. We are a

little surprised that intelligent and experienced men like Dr "Newman- and the Rev. J. PXtekson should'have defended the:home lesson system. The former must know the immature brains of boys from twelve to fifteen years of age will not stand a high pressure of study at night as well as in the forenoon and afternoon. The latter over-, looks the fact that the Board by sanctioning—say, light evening studies, gives teachers power to enforce home lessons, but at the same time it cannot regulate the extent of them, and therefore virtually places all children at tho mercy,of their teachers.. We believe home lessons in connection with a common school education ure wrong in principle and mischievous in practice; The statutory five hours attendance at schools should bo rigidly enforced, but it is almost a cruelty for the Board to follow children to their homes, and indirectly in some instances make their lives a burthen to them by compelling them to extend their studies to six, seven, and in many instances eight hours per diem. There is a good deal of sham and varnish in our educational system, ,aud it is quite a treat to see a little of Mr Bunny's excellent common sense applied to the exposition of its inconsistencies, We do not blame parents for the home lesson system, because they do not in many instances realise the injustice of it, nor do we censure teachers who have to make so many passes per annum or go to the wall, but we do find fault wich the Board in not looking at the question in the light Mr Bunny regards it, viz., from the children's point of view.