HONGKONG.
REPORT BY THE EXAMINERS CF QUEEN'S COLLEGE.
No. 19ce
27
1906
Laid before the Legislative Council by Command of His Excellency the Governor.
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT, HONGKONG, 20th August, 1906.
We visited and inspected the College in July and the first few days of August.
DISCIPLINE AND ORGANIZATION.
Discipline is very good. The only important criticism we have to make, is that the boys in many of the Divisions are somewhat slothful. This is especially true of their attitude when questioned orally; and some of the higher Divisions are the worst offenders.. In one Division boys previously mute found their tongues when they discovered that they would be kept standing till they did so. The great numbers at the College, with the lack of sufficient accommodation, have led to economies of space which are very prejudicial to good teaching. The congregation of several Divisions in the Big Hall was commented on in last year's Report. In the other rooms the boys are arranged in solid squares, a formatiou calculated to save all but the outside rank and file from sudden or casual inspection.
2. The following mistakes were noticed in the teaching of some of the Chinese Masters. When they take boys out in front of their Divisions, they are not always careful to see that all of them are in sight; they do not make enough use of the blackboard; they give geography lessons without using a map.
SANITATION.
3. There is no provision for the proper ventilation of the Class rooms, when the weather is too cold to admit of the opening of many windows. Only one room has a fire place.
4. Single or dual desks adaptable to the stature of the pupils are used in all well equipped schools.
5. Many of the rooms are badly lighted, both as to the quantity of the light and its direction.
6. Many of the rooms are over-crowded.
APPARATUS.
7. After the unsatisfactory nature of the desks, the most obvious deficiency is the lack of wall maps and pictures. Maps are kept in a separate room, and have to be sent for when required. This may prove a saving of wear and tear; but it is a false economy from an educational point of view.
ENGLISH.
8. Colloquial.—In the Preparatory School, Class VII and VI E, the teaching of Colloquial English continues to be very satisfactory. The Normal Class is doing good work, and the Pupil Teachers are entering into the spirit of teaching the subject by scientific methods. Unfortunately it does not seem possible to retain their services as Pupil Teachers for the full term of three years. Could this be managed, it would have, we feel sure, a great and beneficial effect on their careers as teachers. They have still much to learn, not only as regards method, but also of the English language; and their pronunciation is far from perfect.