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THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 2ND MARCH, 1872.
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13. Although little else could have been expected, it was very disappointing to find so low a percentage in the highest class, especially when it stood at 87 per cent in the previous year. The class was very unfortunate in some respects. No fewer than 29 out of the 36 boys which it contains got situations, and left at various periods during the course of the year; and their places had to be filled as they became vacant by promotions from the junior classes. In addition to this, nine, or one fourth of the whole class, were absent from the examinations, some for their marriage, and others on account of sickness. With two exceptions, these nine absentees would have held respectable places in the class list, had they been able to be present. In the previous year only one was absent, and the class, as a whole, was much more permanent during the year.
14. Looked at in this light, the school has a great practical difficulty to contend with. If the classes could by any means be made permanent for a year, or even for half a year, there would be no difficulty in passing a very high percentage of the boys; but, when it is considered that no fewer than 134 left school in the course of the year, it will be evident that, if promotions were not made as vacancies occurred, the school would be always half empty by examination time. Not only is this so, but when promotions have to be made during the three last months of the year, those so promot- ed, while they would have been the first if they had remained in the lower class, are almost sure to fail in the higher one; and this is particularly the case in promotions from the second to the first, where the range of subjects is so much more extensive than it can possibly be in any of the junior classes.
15. Looked at in the light of the situations which are obtained and the promotions which are made, both high prizes in themselves, the result to the scholars is a fortunate one, but it is other- wise to the masters when they come to reckon up the tale, and render an account, of the year's work. 16. Another English master is very much required, not merely for extending the school as to numbers, but for removing, to a great extent, the difficulty alluded to. With his assistance, there can be no doubt that the transition from one class to another would be rendered less abrupt, and the result of the final examinations made more satisfactory. Every effort is made to do this at present, but, with the limited means at our disposal, only partial results can be obtained.
17. It is quite certain that, with another master and additional accommodation, another hundred could be added to the attendance, and the sphere of the school's usefulness thereby enlarged. The school has firmly established itself as one of the permanent institutions of the Colony; and the Chinese, both here and in the adjoining province, regard it with increasing confidence. They now seem to understand its aim and purpose. They do not find in it an attempt to exercise some sinister influence, either religious or political, or both, as was at first more than half suspected. In other parts of China too, and also in Japan, the school is beginning to attract some attention; and, if nothing untoward happens, there is good reason to believe that, before long, the latter country will be more numerously represented at the school than it is at present.
18. Nearly all the nationalities in the Colony have now their representatives in the school, whose doors, it cannot be too well known, are open to all without regard to creed or colour. It is rather surprising still to find, in quarters where one would expect more correct information, grave doubts as to the position which the school holds with regard to religion. There are some who think that we attempt to proselytize. There are others who think that we have a nervous dread of a clergyman entering the place. Both parties could not possibly be more mistaken; but it seems to be the fate of secular education to be distorted and misrepresented. It will not be so always. Ten years will see the superstition exploded; and I hope I shall never again have the humiliation of asserting our honesty in this particular. It is surely too late in the day to assert, on the one hand, that education, whatever protestations are made to the contrary, must be religious; and, on the other, that if it is secular it must be irreligious. Such language is as applicable to the exchange or the counting house as it is to school or college. Science and Language are as distant from dogma as are the details of the Share Market. These are the merest truisms; but theirs is the fault who render the repetition of them a necessity.
19. Of the 134 boys who left during the year, 50 are known to have obtained lucrative employ- ment; 19 left the Colony and returned to their native places; 33 did not return after the New Year and midsummer holidays, and probably did not return to the Colony; 17 had their names removed from the roll, principally for irregularity, but in one or two cases for disobedience; 11 went to Chinese schools; 5 left on account of sickness; and 1 died. Of those who have obtained employ- ment, 33 are known to be in Hongkong, Canton and adjacent places; 2 in Swatow; 1 in Foochow; 7 in Shanghai; 3 in Japan; 1 in San Francisco; 1 in Annam; 1 in Singapore; and 1 in Bombay.
20. The number of those who left during the year was greater by 39 than in 1870. This points to the difficulty already alluded to, against which the school has to contend. Many boys seem to come without any definite idea of what they intend doing. Many parents, too, who, at first, think nothing of the payment of the small fee, in the course of a month or two begin to grudge it and withdraw their boys, frequently themselves also withdrawing from the Colony. By far the greatest number of those who leave before getting employment is accounted for by the shifting character of the population. In addition to all these causes, there is this other one, that many of the Chinese think that the acquirement of English, or of any other barbarian language, is an affair not of
years but of months. When they find their mistake, instead of trying to mend it, they cut the knot of the difficulty, and give themselves no further trouble about a matter of so small importance.