C
M 489
380
GOVERNMENT NOTIFICATION.
The following Report of the Board of Education for 1864, is published for general information.
ว
No. 46.
to
Mr. Merce
The Rt. Hoüble R. Cardwell
Received
/ Inclosure
No17
of Rincation ofor 18624.
Enclosing Purport of Board
SAUNAS Si suivin peatüking o
By Order,
Colonial Secretary's Office, Hongkong, 20th March, 1865.
To III EXCELLENCY
W. H. ALEXANDER, Acting Colonial Secretary,
HONGKONG, 11th March, 1865.
Sia HERCULES G. R. ROBINSON, Knight,
Governor of Hongkong, Sc., Sc.
The Board of Education have the honour to present to Your Excellency their Annual Report on the state of the Govern- ment Schools in the Island of Hongkong.
In doing so, they desire to report, first, on the Village Schools, and, secondly, on the Central School.
I. The Board regret that although there are not wanting certain indications of improvement in a few of the Village Schools, there are still many obstacles to be removed before Chinese Education in this Colony is productive of much good.
Among the obstacles which present themselves may be enumerated the following:-
1. The low moral tone of many of the masters, and the difficulty of supplying their places with a class of men superior in this respect.
2. The extremo indifference of the poorer class of Chinese, in this Colony, to the education of their children.
3. The prejudices they entertain against any change in their own systern of teaching.
In reference to the first of these obstacles, it is often painful to find the indifference and obstinacy of the masters in the work of teaching; their attempts at deception with regard to the School Rolls; and the efforts made to make it appear that the whole blame of the inefficiency of the Schools lies not with them, but with the parents and children.
The difficulty of obtaining good masters-men of character for ability and truthfulness-is a source of deep regret; but it is a difficulty which is almost insuperable in the present state of the Colony. It is scarcely possible for Europeans to culti- vate that acquaintance with the Chinese which would enable them to judge correctly of their character and attainments. This being the case, when a master is wanted, application must be made to Chinese in whom some degree of confidence may be placed; but even these are always ready to use the power thus delegated to them in behalf of some friend or acquaintance, rather than in favour of a man chosen simply for his character and learning.
The second obstacle-the indifference of the Chinese-cannot easily be accounted for, since no fee is charged at the Village Schools.
It is believed, however, that this arises also from the present peculiar state of the Colony. The children who do attend belong principally to the boat-population. This being the ease, in addition to the impossibility there is of turning education to any practical account, their poverty renders them dependent, in some measure, on what can be gained by the manual labour of their children; and this not only makes the attendance irregular, but causes it to be of very short continuance.
The attendance at Chinese Schools is very fluctuating, and this peculiarity is not confined to those in Hongkong. The numbers increase from the Chinese New Year to the month of May, when the attendance is greatest. From that time to the close of the year the numbers steadily decrease.
At the commencement of last year, of the 21 enrolled at one of the Schools 10 of the pupils were new; of the 22 at another 12 were new; of the 34 at another 20 were new; and of the 51 at another no fewer than 40 were new. Many of the pupils of the previous year must therefore have left School, perhaps never to return, with no other attainment than the simple retention in their memories of the names of a few hundred characters, of the meaning of which it is not too much to say that they knew absolutely nothing.
This state of things would be very much improved if the children of the more respectable Chinese attended the Schools, but these seldom bring their families to the Colony; and, so long as this is the case, it is greatly to be feared that Education will not make that progress here which those interested in it could wish to see.
As regards the third obstacle mentioned, one great objection made by the Chinese to the Government Schools is that the systern of teaching by classes is insisted upon. The objection is generally stated thus:-"The books used in English Schools are learnt, not so much perhaps for the information they contain, as that they are a convenient means of acquiring a practical knowledge of the language. Chinese books, on the other hand, are learnt solely for what they contain: the language in which they are written is not that of every day life: a traditional explanation, to be communicated only by the master, is required to render them intelligible: and, to be of any use, they must be committed to memory. A Chinese boy, therefore, if absent from School for a few days, could not join his class at the lesson they had reached, as the part he would thereby want is necessary to the understanding of the whole; and, besides, if he were not to resume his studies at the exact point at which he left them, he would fail to learn a number of characters which might not recur again in the whole course of his reading."