Sta,—I have read with great interest the article entitled "School
Holidays" in your issue of October 12th. Since I am at present at school, and hope in the future to become a teacher, I would like to state my reasons for objecting to the suggested shortening of the school holidays.
In his article Dr. Shackleton Bailey states that children spend at the most five and a-half hours in the classroom daily, and that, apart from long liolidays, there is a whole holiday every week, not counting a free Sunday. He concludes from these facts that the parents are not getting their money's worth in their children's education, and that much of the vast sum to be spent under the new Education Act will be wasted.
May I point out that, although Dr. Bailey's estimate of the time spent in the classroom errs if anything on the generous side, all school children are expected to spend a large proportion of their time doing "prep." At my school most of us finish our evening "prep." about half an hour before bedtinie, according to the official times for work ; but, as most children will agree, it is not often that the work set can be completed in the correct time. Even our afternoons are not our own ; when there are no afternoon lessons, we not only have to go to games, but we also have to do more "prep." As for whole holidays once a week, I know a great number of people who would like to attend a school where there were such things, but no such school has yet come to our notice.
The teacher must not be forgotten in this proposal for shorter holidays, and I am not at all sure that such a suggestion would be welcomed in teaching circles. Dr. Bailey assumes that with the proposed increase in wages teachers can have no possible objection to the curtailment of their holidays. He also states that an average working man spends twice as long on his job as a teacher, who has longer holidays into the bargain. But surely, if this were so, the teaching profession would be over- crowded, not crying out for more and more people to qualify. The teacher's work, however, does not end after a morning and afternoon in the classroom, but continues well through the evening. The most laborious task is the correction of scores of exercise books, but there is also the job of preparing lessons for six or eisht classes next day. I have heard sonic teachers complain that they have had to sit up until one or two in the morning correcting books, and although this is not a general rule, I am sure few people could say that a teacher has shorter hours than a working man.
If the teaching profession is to become popular and the vacancies provided by the Education Act are to be filled, there must be some real incentive for those who are seeking a career to turn to the teaching profession. The promised rise in wages is an obvious measure, but It will lose much of its effect if there is a drastic cut in the length of the school holidays.
To conclude, then, I believe that no thought of shortening the school holidays should be entertained until the new system is working properly, and even then the question should be gone into very thoroughly before any steps are taken. Pupils' hours are long, their routine is wearying, and the holidays are the only time for assimilating the ever important influence of our parents. Teachers need long holidays not only as a complete rest from schools and children but also to widen their outlook so that their lessons .become fresh and interesting again. A cut in the holidays is also likely to mean a cut in prospective teachers at a time when the
nation urgently needs them.—Yours faithfully, JENNIFER ROBINSON. Cheltenham Ladies' College.
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