454
7. In dealing with the non-Chinese Schools of the Colony, the Committee recommend their division into two classes-British Schools for the children of European British subjects, and "English" Schools where the medium of instruc- tion is the English language, and where the scholars are Indian British subjects, Portuguese, Filipinos, Annamites and Eurasians. The Committee have recom- mended, in section 28, the withdrawal of the Government grant from four small schools where Portuguese is the medium of instruction. for reasons which appear to me to be sufficient. Apart from these points, no radical changes are recom- mended in the non-Chinese Schools.
8. In dealing with the Chinese the Committee have recommended the adoption of the principle that, whether the point of view is Imperial or Colonial, the thorough education of a comparatively small number of Chinese will work more good than a smattering given to the many. The argument appears to me to be sound, and if so it should be accepted with all its logical consequences, There is no doubt that neither the Chinese themselves, nor the object of the advancement of Western knowledge derive much benefit from the existing system, which ap- parently teaches the Chinese boy to be an inferior Chinaman without providing him with the intellectual or moral equipment of the average European.
9. The Committee have devoted a large proportion of their Report to the consideration of what they call Anglo-Chinese Schools, that is, schools in which the English language and Western knowledge are taught to Chinese boys: Western knowledge, for want of a better term, being taken to imply a knowledge of history and geography, some natural science, and other such elementary subjects of a European education. In section 39 it is reported that at present no recruiting ground exists for competent Chinese teachers of English; and it is urged therefore that masters of English nationality should be obtained to supplement the de- ficiency. In my opinion it would be better to give up teaching English and Western knowledge altogether than continue as at present to teach children who, owing to the deficiencies of their teachers, learn little better than nothing.
The Bishop of Victoria has stated in his criticism of a portion of this eport that it will be impossible for the Missionary Schools to provide Englishmen as masters even on the largely increased grant recommended by the Committee. The Committee do not share this view, and point to the Roman Catholic Cathedral School to illustrate their contention that, given the proper inducements, suitable English masters will be forthcoming under the new scheme.
The Missionary
Bodies are, indeed, exceptionally well placed for providing themselves with pro- ficient English masters possessing a knowledge of Chinese. However that may be, if the views of the Committee are correct, as they appear to me to be, it will be better for the Anglo-Chinese Missionary Schools to retire gradually from the grant system in the manner indicaded in section 44 of the Report than to continue in receipt of monies which are a return for work not satisfactorily accomplished.
A
10. Sections 9 and 11 and other portions of the Report deal with what are styled Vernacular Schools: those, namely, in which the Chinese written language together with something of Western knowledge is taught to Chinese children in the vernacular. The Western knowledge which is imparted in these schools is generally of an elementary and fragmentary character, the teachers being chiefly drawn from the large class of Chinese pupils who have acquired in the Anglo- Chinese Schools of the Colony some of the little learning taught therein. Arith- metic," say the Committee in their Report, "is an optional subject, and the four simple rules are taught with fair success. Geography is tauglit (very badly) in the Fourth Standard, where many of the scholars were at the last examination ignorant that Hongkong was a British Colony, and a number hazarded the opinion that it belonged to Russia." It appears that difficulties exist in the way of any radical improvement of the Vernacular Schools.
Too much pressure brought to bear on the children with the object of teaching them either Western knowledge or their own written language by scientific methods might only resuit in emptying the schools. The Committee appear to have thoroughly considered the matter of making these Vernacular Schools more attractive, and the result is their proposal to use the undoubtedly keen desire to learn English as an allurement. I understand their recommendation to be that boys passing a certain standard in the Vernacular Schools should be admitted into the attached Anglo-Chinese Schools without the uncertainty of an entrance examination; while in the Grant Schools