After the new government began after independence, Polish primary school became mandatory for ages 6-13. Truancy wasn't checked for and about 1/5 of the villagers' children just went to the local cheder. There was a general atmosphere of Christianity in most Polish primary schools. There was a Christian statue in every room, and prayers were recited. The Jewish pupils did have a Jewish studies time on Friday while the Christian kids studied Christianity. Some Jews viewed mandatory Polish schooling, when almost all Jews already schooled their children, as forced assimilation. Under the Minority Treaty, Jews were entitled to schools in their native language whenever the demographics demanded it, but nothing of the sort ever went through. Indeed, however, in the public schools, Polishness itself was celebrated, along with such Polish values as valor, nobility, greatness, and beauty, portraying gallant Polish heroes in history and making the Polish language seem infinitely beautiful. The language was perhaps the most important thing to learn in a school like at this time. Polish had swept across the Jewish upper class in the 19th and was just making its move through the middle class. The schools were also not without their share of anti-Semitism, even, or especially from the other children and teachers. Many who wrote YIVO autobiographies remember teachers tolerating other students as they made up "real" Jewish names for a Jew or plain derogatory names.