Timmins High and Vocational School - Porcupine Quill Yearbook (Timmins, Ontario Canada)

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. 25 l-il The PORCUPINE QUILL .l.1 one-hour periods every day with ten minutes off each for recess. He has to work hard to get his twelve subjects a year, but he admits that he likes going to school, for, throughout the eight-hour course, he is taught music, art and military training. He can always speak proudly of his school choir, and orchestra, and of its well trained student army. Al- though Ivan loves his religion as much as Boris does, he is content with being taught it three times a week. Five years after Ivan has finished his high school course, we see him, a well-known phy- sician, talking of old times to Father Boris . . . Now that we have been with Ivan and Boris-I wonder if you would like to attend ' k ' ? school in U raine HE ANDRUCHUCK In Soviet Russia The children in Soviet Russia begin school younger than we do here in Canada. There are schools for children from three to six years of age. These schools are really creches. Here nurses and doctors take care of the children who play games and play with toys. Since most of the mothers work in Soviet Rlussia, a mother gives her child to the childrens creches. After her work the mother may take her child home for the night, and may bring it back to the creches in the morning. In this way the children and creches are supported by the govern- ment. When a child is six years of age he goes to a primary school. The subjects which he studies are similar to those studied in Canada. However, there are differences in school prac- tice. A child must have no homework and must not be strapped. The student goes to school four days and the fifth day is a holi- day. The pupils elect their own school class committee and the teacher just acts as an advisor. The parents are allowed to visit the class rooms to see how the children are taught. Older children about twelve years of age help directly to build industry. They go to some factory and work about two hours every day and get the same pay for the two hours as an adult worker. The children get free tickets to theatres and concerts. They are taken to museums and on excursions to factories and mines. They get free dinners and suppers in the schools, and the schools are supported by the government, which also erects the buildings. They have large libra- ries and also gymnasia for the pupils. There are no examinations: the students are pro- moted according to their year's work. They receive one month's holiday and are sent at the expense of the government to summer resorts or wherever they wish to go. When he graduates from Public Schools the child goes to a secondary school such as a High, Technical, or Vocational School. He is taught the same subjects as here in Ontario. and also Political Economy, Marxism and Le- nin's Theory. He even receives wages from the government to maintain himself in ad- dition to a month's holiday with wages at any place he chooses. He has no examinations and is promoted on his year's work. If a stu- dent graduates from Secondary School he may go to the University. If not he is given a position by the government. In the universities he pursues the same courses as in Canada. He not only devotes time to study, but also practises the profession he intends to enter. This may be law, teach- ing, Or engineering. He receives wages ac- cording to his needs. An Italian Country School The school is situated near the market-place of a village in Northern Italy, and children are hurrying toward it. The boys are wearing black knee-length stockings, greyish-green breeches, black shirts, and black fets, or hats with long tassels. which hang down the middle of their foreheads. Yellow and red neckerchiefs are knotted about their necks. The girls are wearing black skirts, white blouses, and hats resembling berets which also have long tassels. Soon the ringing of a hand-bell is heard, and the children hurry into the two-roomed school. The girls go into one room, the boys into the other. Desks are placed in twos close together, and with only a small space between them. The teacherfs desk is at the front, and there is only one large movable blackboard in the room. On the walls hang pictures of the saints, the royal family, and a picture of Il Duce. Religion, reading, writing, history, geo-

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24 'T The PORCUPINE QUILL +l -M language. During the Great War Lithuania declared her independence and set up a re- publican government of her own. In the schools her native language was again taught to the children. It was a great j0y to the parents that the language of their forefathers should not die with them. A new school system was set up. The school system in- cludes elementary, high, and military schools and colleges. A pupil spends four years in an elemen- tary school. He is taught arithmetic, grammar, spelling, geography, history, reading, litera- ture, composition and writing. Sometimes he is punished for not doing his Work. Maybe he is strapped or kept after school. Maybe he has to kneel with bare knees on beans! How would you boys and girls like to kneel on beans? Thus he passes his school days from September till June. Now if you were to tour the city of Kaunas, the capital of Lithuania, you would notice a large red brick building four stories high. You would see a large clock set in the wall and you would also notice the French windows with iiower-boxes on the window sills. You would look at the trim flowers in the centre of the lawn and at the large trees almost as high as the building. You 'would see many marble steps leading to the entrance of the building. On each side of the steps would be two large statues of lions. Should you walk up the steps and go through the arched doorway into the building, you would say, Why, this looks like a school! It is the High School. The High School has, besides classrooms, an auditorium, a gymnasium, and a library. There are lockers set in the Wall for each pupil. The Hall floors are made of marble. Marble stairs lead to the next floor. The rooms are very high and have wooden floors. Here a pupil attends for eight years. His iirst live years' work is the same as ours. During the last three years it equals that taken in our colleges. In these three years he studies in different rooms-rooms having long tables for every four or ive pupils. He studies our university subjects, and takes many lan- guages. These are Lithuanian, German, Eng- lish, Latin, French and Russian. He attends each day from nine till four o'clock. Every two hours, he has a fifteen minute recess. For each subject he has one hour and he takes the same subject twice in a week. As in our schools, his school year is divided into terms, and like us he has to write examinations. There are certain school customs, however, diiierent from ours. The teacher comes to the ro-om and all pupils have to stand up till they are told to sit down. The girls wear black, pleated skirts with a black blouse, topped with a white collar. They Wear berets with a star. The boys wear black trousers and peaked caps. The star is the school em- blem. For sports they do exercises in the gymna- sium. In sum.mer the gymnasium classes- even other classes-are taken outside. The pupils play badminton and tennis. The boys do not play hockey or rugby because, some time ago, too many accidents occurred, and these games were forbidden. They swim a great deal, since there is a lake behind the school grounds. Other of their sports are running and jumping. Boys and girls are taught dancing and singing. The school has its own string orchestra. Lithuania is giving her pupils a broad edu- cation that they may 'be worthy of their country. NELLIE PLIOPLAS In Ukraine Let's go to school with Ivan and Boris. Ivan wants to be a doctor, and Boris has chosen the easier vocation of priesthood. They are both sent to the same public school where, in addition to reading, writing, art, geography and history, they are taught the Russian language. After spending three years together at the same school, Ivan and Boris part, for although, Ivan's vocation re- quires only three years of primary education, Boris must remain six years for a better train- ing in the elementary subjects. When Ivan is sent off to high school, Boris remains behind to complete his six grades, and is then sent to a seminary. Here, for four years he is taught religion and live lan- guages: Latin, German, Greek, Russian and Polish. Like all Ukrainian boys, he iinds Latin the most diilicult. Meanwhile, Ivan is toiling away at high school. He attends school six mornings a week, from eight to one o'clock. He has five,

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Z6 Wi The PORCUPINE QUILL i.. graphy, art and arithmetic are studied in this Italian School. text books being provided for all subjects. Lead pencils are used for art, and pen and ink for notes. Sometimes the pupils misbehave, and the teacher either sends them back home, or hits them over the knuckles with a bamboo rod, which is also used as a pointer. But they are usually very attentive. for their parents are very strict. In the morning and afternoon they are given Hfteen minutes' recess, such as we have here. During these recesses the boys play football, leapfrog and other games. The younger girls play about in their part of the school yard, while the older girls sew, or do other hand work, not because they are for- bidden to play. but because they are brought up to be useful. Every month each pupil receives a pagel- la or report card, showing the marks for the month and his standing in class. For these pagellas they have to pay five lires a year. In Italy schools are supported by the com- munity, and the Italian children have to go to school until they are fourteen years Old. Sunday is a holiday, but instead of having Saturday free, as We have, they have Thurs- day. There are three months' holidays dur- ing the summer, beginning at the end of June. During September they have another holiday, because the children usually help in gather- ing the harvest. Women teachers may teach even though they become wives and mothers. When they reach the age of fifty they are pensioned for life. This is a brief description of an Italian School. In Syria The schools of Syria are much the same as those of Canada. They begin school at eight o'clock in the morning, and g-et out at twelve o'clock. Then they go back at one o'clock in the afternoon and stay tili six. Part of the morning is spent at Arithmetic. Then they get ten minutes off for recess. After recess they have Catechism and His- tory, Geography and other subjects. The pu- pils read the history and geography from text-books. After dinner the teacher asks them questions on what they read in their text-books and explains any difficulties. One hour in the afternoon is reserved for the girls to sew, d-o fancywork or needlework, and for the boys to do carpentry, repair shoes, make jewelry. or do whatever they wish. After this they read books. Then the last half-hour is spent in praying. The classrooms are arranged the same as they are in Canada. The pupils go up to the blackboard to work out their Arithmetic pro- blems. The teachers and instructors are usually men, and they do not believe in Spare the rod and spoil the child. In French schools they teach French and Arabic, and in English schools they teach English and Arabic. The pupils have holidays at Christmas, Easter, and in Summer. There is a school in every rural district. From public school they go to High School, and then to College or Univer- sity. DOROTHY ABRAHAM In Roumania Schools in Roumania are different from those in Canada. A child begins primary sch-ool at the age of seven, and takes either a fou.r or a six-year course, according to his percentage. If his percentage, the first four years is good, he misses the last two classes and goes to High School. If it is not good, he takes the full course. The course consists of Grammar, the His- tory of Roumania, Geography of Europe, Arithmetic, Writing, Reading, Composition, Hygiene and Zoology. Zoology is taken only as it applies to the domestic animals. Spell- ing and Literature are not taught, for the language is very simple, and easy to under- stand, but the Roumanian Orthodox religion is taught from the Bible. The school hours are from nine to twelve, and from two to four. The school term is like ours, from September to June. These hours and this term, are for all the children, no matter how small they are. In small schools, the first and second year subjects are taught in one room, the third and fourth in another, and the fifth and sixth in another. If the number of students is