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3. The classes started under considerable disadvantages. It was impossible to say whether they would prove a success or not, and no preliminary expenditure on apparatus was sanctioned. The Chemistry and Physics classes were therefore put at the beginning, under serious disabilities, and the teachers deserve great credit for having done what they have done with the odds and ends of apparatus which could be placed at their disposal, and for having maintained so well the interest of their students in the subjects taught. All classes alike suffered also from a lack of suitable text books, and the maintenance of the attendance. in the face of all discouragement is further evidence if any were needed, of the necessity for classes of this nature.
4. The percentage and averages given in the Attendance Returns (Table V.) are not a very good index to the actual attendance at each class. In some cases the number on the roll decreased between the 1st November and the 30th January, and in others the number actually increased, and allowance must be made for this. The actual attendance at each class during the term is given in Table VI. During the first month there was the usual unavoidable shifting of students from one class to another and a revision of the time-table in December gave rise to a certain number of changes.
5. The subjects taught in the Commerce Section are:-Shorthand, Book-keeping, Commercial Arithmetic, English, French, German and Japanese. The largest attendance is in the English classes. The attendance at these classes has suffered somewhat from two causes. It has fallen off through the disappearance of students who were incapable of following a course in Advanced English, whilst on the other hand there is reason to believe that a certain number of young men have been deterred from joining from fear of the high standard that would be required on admission.
6. The number of students though smaller than was hoped by me would be the case, is good, considering that these are advanced classes, and that the senior class consists of students who have already done very well at school. It is still hard to persuade Chinese scholars what a good business investment every additional year spent on the study of English is, but it is satisfactory to see that this is beginning to be recognised by Chinese parents who have themselves received their education in Hongkong.
7. Teachers of other classes complain of the difficulty some of their pupils experience in following the lesson owing to their ignorance of English, and it may be advisable to insist on backward pupils attending an English class if their ignorance of English impedes the work of their class. The average attendance at the French class was 28, at the German 11 and at the Japanese 9. The popularity of the French class is not explicable at first sight. It does not seem probable that the relative utility of these three languages in Hongkong and in places in the Far East to which Hongkong boys go, corresponds to the average attendance at the classes. The Japanese class commenced with an enrolment of three. The decision of the Committee to maintain classes for one term even though the enrolment did not reach five-the minimun prescribed in the syllabus--has been justified in this case, as the term closes with an enrolment of eleven. In all three classes the students have the advantage of native teachers.
8. Shorthand cannot fail to be a popular class. Proficiency in the subject has an immediate money value. The attendance has been well kept up--the average attendance being 23, and at the close of the term an examination was held at which there were ten candidates for Pitman's Elementary Certificate and seven for the Theory Certificate.
9. It is gratifying to find 7 students already capable of taking an advanced course in Book-keeping. It remains to be seen whether the 11 students on the roll of the Elementary Class will persevere in their studies long enough to enter the Advanced Class.
10. The Commercial Arithmetic Class is small in number but keen. think be a very popular class.
It will never I
11. The Engineering Section consists of five classes in Geometry, Applied Mechanics, Practical Mathematics, Building Construction and Machine Drawing. The two last classes were started on the 7th December. There is no doubt that the need for these classes has