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Show Shorter Church School Vear? Shall we have a shorter school year is the great question being discussed in the present session of the church school teachers convention now being held in Salt Lake City. It is held by one of the best educators of the state, Pres. : Geo. H. Brimhall of the Brigham Young ; University, that the students-are being i schooled to an extreme. What he means i is not that our boys are getting too I much education but that they have no : time for anything else. As a rule after the boys have completed the first two or three years work at the parent's expense ex-pense the parents find the sacrifice too j great and the young men are conse-, conse-, quently left to pay their own wav to finish their education. There isn't but two things left for him to do, either borrow money if he can or remain out of school a year for the summer vacation is too short for hi.n to earn money sufficient suf-ficient to attend continuously, j Then the great question is whether it j would be best to make it easier by giv- ing him five years to do what is now be-: be-: ing done in four. As it is now only a i small per cent of students who enter ' school ever remain until the close of ! school. The great desire of the educat-: educat-: ors is to hold their students the entire year, and they think by giving the young the benefit of a shorter school year that they will accomplish much more. There are also a good many arguments against this plan and they, too, are worthy of our attention. First, it will work a hardship by depriving the students stud-ents of their Saturday vacation as the proposed plan included Saturday as a school day. Many girls who are rooming room-ing or keeping house will have to wash and iron on that day and it is feared it will be the cause of much Sabbath breaking. Again it is argued tn;H ic a young man wants an education he does not want to putter along for five years to get what he ought to have in four. It is believed by many that it is cheaper cheap-er much to do the work in four years than it is in five and that it will pay the student better to borrow ' if needs be rather than to waste the extra year. It is believed t)y many that in case it should be decided to adopt the six months plan that the students who are after an education will go where they can get the five years in four. A great many students have expressed themselves them-selves so. It is the faith of the Mormon people, however, to pay as they go and they feel that this change will be a great factor in this direction. The plan will have to be worked out before its benefits or disadvantages can be known. Schools that have tried it say it is the best plan. It matters not now however what we say as the matter will be decided in the near future and we will have to conform to the ruling. |