EDUCATION IN. BELGIUM.

Evening Post, Volume LXXII, Issue 66, 15 September 1906, Page 15

EDUCATION IN. BELGIUM.

In Belgium tho efforts in the direction of teaching girls the rudiments of housewifery aro of uncommon interest. At tho Communal Primary School, in Brussels, classes are held in rooms in the baEement, which consist of a pleasant iutchen, larder, washhouse, ironing-room, and dining-room. The girls devote five weeks of each school year to tho performance of household duties, this being I tb&ir programme : — Every day th© pre- ' paration of a dinner, and once a week washing, ironing, and complete cleaning of the apartments, utensils, > and furniture. A large number of the infant pupils are admitted to the dining-rooms for meals, and by this ulan 'the , girls learn ft number of things indispensable in tho feeding of young children. Lessons bo-s-in with the explanation of tho menu, and then the cooking and supervision of the meals are gone on with, the -cost is calculated, and the business of an ordinary household transacted. The pupils do "tho shopping themselves, but the echool provides the. food material, and | where it is possible, vegetables and herbs are grown in the school-grounds, by the nupils. Each scholar keeps a note-book lor the prices of provisions, menuc, etc., «md another for recipes, the quantities of materials needed for a household of six parsons, and the main principles relating to washing and ironing. Further, they have to keep a journal of their laundry work, daily expenses, repairing of utensils, and household mending. The idea of the pupils accompanying the teacher to buy the provisions is found to be excellent, for being able to choose good meat and vegetables without instruction is a faculty rarely met with.