Occupying an important and dignified post in the church, the
voorlezer was selected with as great care as the circumstances
permitted, and being under the continual supervision of the
ministry and the consistory, he usually carried out his duties
conscientiously, and was well qualified to give the children'
instruction in the rudimentary subjects, reading, writing, and
arithmetic, and in religion to fit them for church membership." T

The School Ordinance of Governor de Chavonnes stated
■that the Governor and Council were to he satisfied of the
character and doctrine of the teacher, who had to sub-
scribe to the doctrines of the church as laid down in the
Articles of the Senate of Dordrecht.
The country schools could not obtain teachers and the
law made no provision for obtaining them. In many
eases the task of educating the young was entrusted for
short periods to sailors and soldiers, who had been
discharged from the service of the East India Company,
and who were almost always men of very scant education.
These itinerant schoolmasters travelled about from one
farm to another, staying from about 6 to 12 months at
each place. In this way they taught the children reading,
writing and sometimes arithmetic and this was generally
the only schooling such children ever received.
w Eybers E. Educational Development at the Cape of Good Hope
1652-1S39. p. 16.
Compare similar development in the Dutch Schools of New
Netherland. See Kilpatrick W. H. The Dutch Schools of New
Netherland and Colonial New York. U.S. Bureau of Ed. Bulletin
1912. No. 12.
