160
THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 2ND APRIL,1879.
evening, a great portion of their time to mercantile
engagements or private tuition, and did not there- fore come as fresh to their work in school as might be desired. Through the alteration in the time table which was introduced by order of His Excellency the Governor in May last year, when the early morning of every day, formerly occupied by Chinese teaching, was appropriated for English teaching, there is little objection now to be raised on that score.
The European masters are competent men, all the masters without exception I found attend- ing to their duties with exemplary punctuality and fidelity. Altogether the general organisation of the school and the masterly discipline main- tained in almost every department of it, seems to me well-nigh perfection. But as regards one or two details and the method of teaching adopted in the school, there is considerable room for im- provements.
In the first instance, in the Preparatory Classes, where the first rudiments of English pronunciation are taught, the teaching of English was left in che
ands of native assistants whose owa pronuncia
on is by no means perfect. Next, there is a stem in vogue in the Central School of ling
p, all through the nine classes of the school; every seat that happens to f . vacant than two days, in conscquence of which the Pre paratory School receives a new
contingent ar sends on boys to the higher classes every mor so that by the end of the year sercely tw t of any one class in the whole scho
same uniform teaching
זי
through
regard this system as unfair to the m whom the consequent disparity of atta among their pupils throws additional trouble, and as unfair to the scholars themselves, the continuity of whose studies is thus arbitrarily interrupted. But the matter has a far more serious aspect when it is considered that anyhow the classes are too large for effective teaching and especially that the boys sit so crowded, in every class, that not only have they no elbow room in writing, but copying and prompting by whispers is absolutely im- possible to prevent. The evil of this overcrowding is most conspicuous during Chinese lessons, where from 80 to 90 boys are crowded into one class under one teacher. Thus the moral lesson of self-reliance, which the school otherwise might teach, is lost, habits of dishonesty and deception are fostered, and moreover, in a hot climate like this, among a people among whom skin diseases are naturally prevalent, such overcrowding of the classes becomes positively dangerous to health as vell as to morals. Three out of the five school- oms are very lofty and provide sufficient cubic ace. But the rule observed in England, of witting one boy only for every 8 square feet,
"sistently disregarded in the Government
1 School. The only gain this system can a seemingly high rate of average attend-
proportionate diminution of the ap- he school when calculated for each
ndance.
and
more
US
lad
間三館甚是高昂氣息流通亦甚清爽惟
故候教
也改習
督憲嘗命改
易書院課程將
午將改
因處見但憊
憊不如願矣
此不
因去歲五月間
處故亦難言袞
見,有何不妥之
但此事現向未
候改作教英文
教習華文之時
向來每日上午
而壞矣盛夏炎熱之時每見土人皮膚多 受一師之教如是教學者專心致志之道 失乎况兼他人文字近味自已天再欺騙之心由是而生小子之性亦由是 摹寫硃艱師長難防竊摸更易且也低聲細語彼此相 4此弊於教華文時尤甚蓋是時有學童八十名以外之多合作一班而 當由淺入深夫如是保無獵等之弊歟但此事之關係尤有要者誠以每班之中所有學童溢於教師所能善教者况坐位太密 +童之數較多書院支消每名科派較少耳
足令師徒均受其害耳蓋教師之訓誨各位不同而學童之練習各有差洲移易頻頻寔令教之者更覺艱苦也蓋爲學之道固 初學之童進第十班况另每月升班故在十班之内每班學童終歲畫一誦讀其書者幾無三之二照做監院意見如此館規適 惜蓋彼語音未能盡爱基址砌壞腕惜多又在院内向有舊章各班不論何時倘有席位僅三二日卽着升補致此每月可接 上之境矣第間有一二事宜院中教法或可畧爲修飾潤澤耳在第九第十班教初進院學英語者只有華人掌教此事深爲可 諸歐洲人掌教確乃諳練者m英華教師監院亦常見其盡心竭力以守厥職院内規模諸凡整肅照做監院意見幾臻無 吳兹也立次密邇則不但壞其心且將害及其身矣往大書院分五館舍其 可遵即每八方尺之間准接學童一位而在香港大書院一向輕
之未嘗遵守如此所可見之益處不過是绝与
輕其