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English School (girls), Victoria Home and Orphanage, and Victoria College. The first object in selecting a name for a school should be that it would be distinctive; for this purpose I recommend that this College should be re-christened Queen's (or Royal) College, names already chosen for Government Colleges in many other colonies. As a special reason for preferring the title Queen's College, I would refer to the remarks made by Sir GEORGE BOWEN, when he announced that his recommendation that the new building should be called Victoria College had been graciously approved > by Her Majesty. The special ground for his recommendation was that the occupation of the College oscurred just after the Queen's Jubilee, and that the name given would commemorate that event. My contention is that the present title fails to suggest such an allusion, both because at that time several schools were already known as Victoria Schools, and because Victoria being the name of the city has lost its significant force in connection with the Jubilee.
12. THE STAFF.-Several masters have been incapacitated by sickness, for various periods, varying from six days to as many weeks. Mr. DEALY returned from England on 1st May. Mr. MACHELL was confirmed, at the end of twelve months' probation, in his appointment as Assistant Master, by the Secretary of State. During the last two years several changes have taken place among the Chinese Assistants. Mr. Lo KIT resigned on account of ill-health; Messrs. CHEUNG TSOI, LO CHEUNG-SHIU, WONG FAN, and CHAN KAM-TO were transferred to other departments at higher salaries; and Mr. SHAM CHAU- FAT was dimissed. Two of these six changes were unavoidable, but the remaining four are attributed to insufficient salary. We have thus lost four excellent masters, with specially good attainments in English, who had five or six years' experience in teaching. It will take three or four years for their successors to approach their standard of qualification, if indeed they too are not transferred in the course of a couple of years. It is gratifying to know that our Chinese Assistants are appreciated as interpreters and clerks in other Departments; but it might well be asked if some system could not be devised which should secure the more lengthened services of these Chinese masters in the work for which they are specially trained. The First and Second Chinese Assistants have respectively $100 - and $68 a month; then come four seniors at $40 and four juniors at $25 a month. Many boys on leaving the first class receive $20 and $30 a month immediately; while these Assistants remain at the same salary and see their juniors in enjoyment of larger emoluments elsewhere; the natural consequence is that they are on the look-out for other employment. Some increment (say $60 a year biennially, till a maximum of $600 instead of $480 per annum were attained) might act as an induce- ment to them to remain longer in the service of education. The slight extra expense would be more than compensated by the increased efficiency of the Chinese section of the staff, resulting from an improved permanence in tenure of office.
13. OXFORD LOCAL EXAMINATIONS. This year seven Seniors and seven Juniors passed; the largest number hitherto being three Seniors and five Juniors in 1889. We sent in altogether 29 fees, but five boys did not present themselves for examination, three having obtained situations, and two being ill. Fourteen passes out of twenty-four is by no means unsatisfactory. As regards the Chinese, eight passes out of nine is a highly creditable record. The failures amongst the non-Chinese are due to the general weakness of the class and emphasise the necessity there was for the formation of a special class for their improvement. The Head of any School can, by the payment of one shilling for each candidate, obtain from Oxford detailed particulars of his own boys' work. Thus, I am able to report that OBADIAH obtained the mark "Good" in Shakespeare, HANCE and E. DANENBERG in Grammar, U HANG-KAM in Arithmetic, Algebra, and Euclid, and CHAN YAM-MING in Arithmetic and Algebra. It must be understood that the mark "Good" is next in order to "Distinguished," and that the Distinction list in Shakespeare and Mathematics is remarkably select. Altogether I am of opinion that the results should encourage the boys to further efforts, and should be a lesson to the non-Chinese boys of the great need they have of more steady application.
14. THE HALF-YEARLY EXAMINATION.-In July 1882 I instituted a half-yearly examination, to see that the work of the previous half had been fairly prosecuted, and to prevent masters and boys leaving the bulk of the year's work to be acquired in the latter half. I have found this practice most beneficial; both masters and scholars have been pleased to have their weak subjects discovered and pointed out for particular attention in the ensuing term. Many a boy, too, on leaving school between September and the close of the year has been gratified by having the higher results of the Midsummer Examination recorded on his certificate instead of his position in January. In 1893, however, the Half-yearly Examination was not held, as the Inspector of Schools objected to the Head Master's holding any examination of the College in the same term with his annual inspection. The injury thus done to the year's work is incalculable; and the enforced ignorance of the Head Master as to the condition of the College under his charge at the opening of Michaelmas Term is a serious hindrance to efficiency. It is therefore to be hoped that the Half-yearly Examination will not be permanently discontined.
15. RECREATION.-The report on the boys' sports, supplied by Mr. MACHELL, is full of interest, especially as regards cricket; for it appears that in several of the matches some four or five masters, and occasionally a few gentlemen outside the College, took an active part. There has been no observ- able advance made in drill. Sergeant BLAND, whose strict discipline combined with considerable tact in making the exercise less obnoxious to the Chinese, produced such excellent results last year, left us