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4. We were also struck, and we believe that previous examiners have commented on the fact, by the extraordinary difference which often exists between boys at the top and at the bottom of the same class. A dead level of attainment cannot of course be expected but boys at the bottom of one class often appeared to be much less capable than boys in the class immediately below. In Shakspere for instance, putting aside the non-Chinese boy who did an excellent paper, one Chinese boy did a very good paper while one boy wrote nonsense and was evidently unable to understand what he had read. The same applies to other subjects..
5. In some classes work is corrected by the boys. Slates are changed and the scholars correct each other's mistakes. We know from experience of a certain English public school that this method is most unsatisfactory. In one class in this school all subjects which could be tested by one word answers such as Latin and Greek Grammar were corrected by an exchange of papers. The master never supervised the corrections and it was necessary to obtain 14 out of 20 marks to avoid detention. The entire form invariably obtained 14 marks, In Class V E this system is apparently adopted. The subject was Grammar and judging from the show of hands 25 boys out of 30 had no mistakes and 5 boys had 1 mistake each. On inspecting the slates quite a number of mistakes were discovered marked right, and also many mistakes in spelling. There should be constant supervision by the form Master if this system is used.
6. It may perhaps not be within our province but we were much surprised to find that a school of the size and importance of Queen's College has nothing in the nature of a Masters' Meeting, where matters affecting the school can be discussed. The College has quite a large staff of masters and we imagine that there is no school of such a size and with such a numerous staff in England which has not a Masters' Meeting. We recommend the sugges- tion that there should be a Masters' Meeting to the authorities.
7. The suggestions of the examiners in last year's report under the heading Apparatus and Sanitation have had no result-the desks are still unsatisfactory, there is still a lack of wall maps and pictures, and maps are still stored in a separate room. Many of the rooms are still overcrowded and no attempt has apparently been made to improve those in which the the lighting and ventilation were adversely commented on last year.
8. We give below some details of the various subjects in which we examined the College.
ENGLISH.
9. Colloquial was mainly tested by explanations of passages in the readers and also by questions on general subjects. The results on the whole were very fair. With the exception of a few boys in Class I the lower school showed up better than the upper school. In the lower classes the boys were more alert, more ready to answer questions and generally more inclined to do their best. The pronunciation was in most cases good and the English fairly correct, but boys were evidently not accustomed to explain passages in their own words. The usual answer contained almost all the bookwords slightly turned and it was a matter of some difficulty to persuade boys to answer in a few simple words. Explanations couched in the simplest language might well.be encouraged!
10. Individual classes varied somewhat in their achievements. Class VII was poor, VI fair; V A distinctly good and the remaining divisions fair. In V E the vocabulary was very limited. Class IV was fair throughout. In Class III the reading was fair in all divisions and the boys made an effort to talk and give explanations of what they had read. Class II was poor and I was good.
11. It is obvious that none of the boys practise colloquial outside the school room. This should be encouraged and ample opportunities should arise now that all the big schools in the Colony meet at frequent intervals in friendly rivalry both at work and at play.
12. Reading was good throughout the School. It was as a rule easy to follow what was being read without looking at the book, a very fair proof that the pronunciation was correct and that the punctuation was duly observed. The explanation of the text to which reference has been made varied very much, but most of the boys seemed to understand what they were reading, and to follow the general course of the narrative.