I'm not yet out in NZ, however if it is only 1 or 2 hours a WEEK then I would hazard a guess that that should be ok.
I'm pretty sure the cadets out there can find an hour or two a week to hit the pub, so why not an hour or two to quickly do some work.
HOWEVER, I personally wouldn't want anything distracting me from focusing on my flying and ground school so I wouldn't do it myself.
I don't think that helped though....