APeriod ofTransition 123

the Terrestrial Globe, Ecclesiastical History, Modern History, Natural Philosophy and Botany. The pupils answered perfectly all the questions they were asked. (TR)*®

Tignish and Rustico followed the example of Miscouche by estab- lishing convents under the direction of the sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame in Montreal: the convent in Tignish opened in 1868, and the one in Rustico in 1882°°. These convents offered the same bilingual curriculum as the one in Miscouche and were also instru- mental in preparing candidates for the Normal School, thus providing Acadian schools with bilingual teachers. The convents were also excel- lent centres of cultural animation. The sisters gave art and music classes and often put on variety concerts that were greatly appreciated by the public.

Until the beginning of the twentieth century, French appears to have prevailed in these institutions. Since the sisters were from Quebec, the curriculum was exactly the same as the one the Congre- gation used in their native province. The atmosphere was French even though bilingualism was a must for any public event organized by the sisters involving their pupils.

ACADIAN SCHOOLS

Despite good classes and competent teachers, the convents only reached a small proportion of Acadian school children. The vast major- ity of pupils went to public schools with all the problems that entailed. In 1885, there were twenty-seven so-called Acadian public schools in Prince County where most of the French population lived®.

School attendance continued to pose a major problem through- out the province. In fact it was often deplored that classes were so poorly attended. Many young school children would only occupy their school benches during the warm months of the year. In the case of older children, they would often be obliged to stay at home to help work on the farm. Some of them only went to school during the off-season*.

Even though parents were becoming more and more interested in education and were building and furnishing new schools, often the conditions did not enhance either attendance or the quality of