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Of the private measures the most important was the Tramway Ordinance (No. 10 of 1902), by which the contruction of an electric tramway within the Colony was authorized and the necessary legal powers, conferred upon the Company by which the tramway is to be constructed.
IV.-EDUCATION.
The educational system in the Colony is at present undergoing revision, and it is as yet too early to speak with confidence of the results which may be expected from measures which are, to some extent, only tentative.
Of recent years the demand among the Chinese for instruction in the English language has largely increased, and is now so keen that all the Anglo-Chinese schools of the Colony are full, and many would-be pupils cannot find admittance. There is also a growing number of night-schools and other non-aided institutions where English is taught. One such school, founded little more than a year ago. has a total enrolment of 300; and application has been made by its Manager for its inclusion, under the Government Code, among aided Schools.
Of Government Schools, Queen's College, with an average attendance of nearly one thousand, is the most important. Three Anglo-Chinese District Schools, with a total enrolment of about 400, were entirely re-constituted and put under European headmasters from the end of the year. Of aided Anglo-Chinese Schools, the Roman Catholic Cathedral School has an average attendance of over one hundred. In all these schools a large proportion of the staff consists of European masters.
During the year a school for children (both sexes) of European British parentage was established at Kowloon: it has already a total enrolment of over sixty.
A Committee was appointed early in the year to consider the whole question of education in the Colony; and it published a report in which were enunciated several important principles. Of these perhaps the most universally accepted is the dictum that while educating Chinese in English and Western Knowledge, it is also desirable to ensure a certain standard of proficiency in the Chinese written language.
The Inspector of Schools, who was in England during the summer, made a study of the methods employed by the Board of Education, and on his return drew up a new Code for aided Schools. This draft has since received the full approval of the Managers of Schools,
V.-PUBLIC WORKS.
The principal public works undertaken or completed within the year were the new Law Courts, the road to Taipo, the Western Market, the new Harbour Office, an extension of the Tytam Reservoir, the Kowloon Water-works, and the Governor's new Peak Residence. The Law Courts are to be built on the Praya Reclamation. The greater part of the year was occupied in forming the foundations, which were nearly completed. The road to Taipo, the administrative centre of the New Territory, was practically finished. Its width is 14 feet and its length 18 miles. The founda- tions of the new Western Market were nearly completed up to ground level, and also those of the new Harbour Office. The new Water-works at Tytam and Kow- loon have been undertaken in consequence of the inadequacy of the existing water supply to meet the requirements of the city of Victoria during the dry season. The excavation of the foundations for the new Tytam Reservoir, over a length of about 280 feet, was practically completed, and a portion was filled in with cement concrete. The new Kowloon Water-works scheme is in the hands of a firm of local architects and engineers. Beyond the laying of mains, the defining of drainage boundaries and a certain amount of excavation, there has not yet been time to make any decided progress with the work.
The Governor's new Peak Residence was completed in July and occupied shortly afterwards. The house is large and substantial and stands near the highest point on the island.
The total amount spent on Public Works Extraordinary during the year was $1,157,104; and on works annually recurrent, $506,793.
Of the former sum, $508,000 was expended in the purchase of a site on the Praya Reclamation for the new Post Office.