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THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 15TH FEBRUARY, 1873.
7. The giving of grants-in-aid to certain schools, which at first gave promise of much good, is not proving so beneficial a measure as was anticipated. Although it would be very difficult to give proper proof for the assertion, there can be no doubt that, in many cases, the grant is the master's sole means of support. And this is not all; for out of this pittance he has to pay rent and other exactions. In one case where these were refused, the villagers approached the master with much cunning. They asked him for a loan of money, which it would require much charity to believe they ever intended to
repay.
8. As has been often repeated in these Reports, no one who has not had actual experience among the schools could believe what difficulties have to be encountered in connection with them. These difficulties are not to be removed by any ordinary means, for they originate almost entirely from igno- A firm determination to bear with rance, from prejudice, and not infrequently from something worse. the people, in the faith that good must ultimately accrue from an attempt to protect the children from the misfortune of the parents is almost the only motive for perseverance that can be supposed to exist.
9. These Annual Reports have also contained repeated references to the kind of education imparted in these village schools. It is needless to repeat that, at best, it comes far short of anything which would be dignified with the name of education in the West. Still, it has been thas or nothing since the establishment of the schools; and, although a hope has been cherished that the present state of things would soon give place to a better, no opportunity for the realization of the hope has occurred until now.
10. How far the experiment will be successful, it is impossible to say; but if the Government is prepared to sanction it, it will now be made. The school-master at Aberdeen has allowed his school so to dwindle away both in numbers and in efficiency, that it will be necessary to make an application for his removal. That granted, his place will be filled by the lad who proved himself the best scholar in the Central School at the recent examinations.
11. The schocl will then be conducted on the plan of the Central School. One half the day will be devoted to English, and the other half to Chinese. English books will be read as a means of impart- ing knowledge in subjects which there is no hope of ever having taught in the Chinese Language by the present class of masters. Chinese books will also be read, because no attempt will be made to denationalize the boys.
12. If this plan succeeds, the children of Aberdeen will, before long, know something of, at least, Arithmetic and Geography, in addition to the very laudable aphorisms about "Benevolence and Righte- ousness," which are at present so drearily dinned into their ears. Committed to memory with a facility which is marvellous, and retained there with an equally surprising tenacity, these sayings of the sages may be ever ready on the tongue; but for all purposes of information, and of education in its strictest sense, they are, for such young children as we have at our village schools, practically useless. The children, certainly, learn to read and write; but, with the exception of a few boys in the best of the schools, this is all the good that is ever gained, if we except the opportunities for mischief which ure avoided by confinement in school.
13. The difficulties which underlic this scheme are these. The teacher's knowledge of his own language will be ignored by many, and undervalued by all. His knowledge of English will, with some, be it subject for contempt. His youth will expose him to no little interference on the part of the old people in the village, and, greatest difficulty of all, it may be a serious drawback, as regards character and conduct, to the prosperity of the school. As matters now stand, the Inspector of Schools cannot exercise that constant supervision which he could do before the establishment of the Central School. Unless, therefore, the young teacher has force of character enough to keep himself straight, the con- sequences to this experiment may be very disastrous.
14. It is not now for the first time that this plan for the gradual supersession of the present masters has been thought of. Hitherto, lads who would have taken the posts were not such as could have been trusted in them, and those who could have taken them were always able to command higher. remuneration for their services elsewhere, than could have been given them as teachers. It so happens that, at present, everything bids fair for a first attempt, and, if it should ultimately fail, we might do worse than revert to Confucius for another decade. If, on the other hand, it succeeds, it will be the commencement of a new educational era in the Colony.
15. The Central School has made another rapid advance in numbers. It has far outgrown the limits of the present building, and not of that only, but of the teaching power of the present staff of masters. A hope was expressed in last Report that another year would see a more commodious and suitable building in course of construction. If increased accommodation and an additional English master were necessary then, still more so are they necessary now. Last year showed very plainly the effects which result from even the temporary absence of one of the masters. Certain subjects had to remain in abeyance, and the masters on duty were overworked. If anything should happen which would necessitate. the prolonged absence of one of the English musters, the only course that could be adopted would be a reduction of the numbers. This is too serious a step to contemplate. There is no help, therefore, but to bring the subject once more to the notice of the Government, and beg for it
the consideration which it deserves.