The Post-War Period 241

to the principles of the Second Vatican Council. If the present trend continues, the Acadian community, like any other Catholic commu- nity in the country, will be faced with a scarcity of priests and nuns since the calling for the Church has become increasingly rare. Undoubt- edly lay people will have to assume a much greater role in the life of the Church. It may become necessary for Acadian parishes to reorgan- ize in order to share the services of a less numerous clergy.

EDUCATION

CONSOLIDATED SCHOOLS

Two world wars and the economic depression of the 1930s left little opportunity for the province to make many improvements in its educational system. Being both a poor and rural province, the Island lacked the necessary financial resources for an economic recov- ery. There was, among other things, an urgent need for better schools and for more qualified and better paid teachers. This required a change in thinking since, traditionally, a good education was not regarded as a necessity. According to popular beliefs, any young person who in- tended to farm, to fish or do housework would be quite capable of getting along in life if he or she could read, write, and add and subtract a bit. Obviously this type of reasoning did not further the cause of education, especially since many children of school age were kept at home to help with work on the farm.

After the Second World War, governments were better able to implement social programs, several of which were directly related to educational matters. The family allowance, established in 1946, prob- ably did more for public education than any other program?’. In order to receive a monthly allowance, parents had to prove that their chil- dren of school age (fifteen years old or younger) were attending school regularly. The benefits were discontinued if the pupil was absent too often without a valid excuse. To control school attendance more closely, the Minister of Education appointed, during the same year, an officer in charge of school attendance’*. According to Inspector Frangois-E. Doiron’s report also dating from 1946, these measures worked miracles: