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Small villages all had their own school, so had Wetsens. In 1857 the school had 21 pupils. Even in those days absenteeism did exist and was even a bigger problem than nowadays.
When a school inspection committee visited the school in 1865, the committee found 11 boys and 8 girls present, but the oldest pupil was not yet one year old. Surely there were other children, but where ? The answer is quite simple, they were helping out in the fields. Farm implements were very simple in those days so every helping hand was not only welcome but also necessary.
The headmaster was very concerned about the health of his pupils. In 1870 he put a complaint to the committee that a number of children was not vaccinated against smallpocks and he urged them to take the necessary steps with the doctors as else he had to refuse these children entry into the school.
In 1876 the school suffered a severe blow as 8 children left the school. This was due to a new ruling that the children coming from other communities had to pay a higher fee. Parents could not afford that and thus these children did not get any education. But apart from that, parents also did not care much about education. This may be clear from the fact that the school inspection committee found only 6 boys and 3 girls present on their visit in 1878.
Also the quality of the education was not what it should be. The writing and spelling of words was very poor. Thus the committee came to the conclusion that the headmaster neglected his job. The headmaster, having eye-trouble himself, might have given up on educating these young children. He was dismissed because of his bad eyesight and the school was closed down in 1880.
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