376
14
MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN HONGKONG,
College had a diminished attendance of 21 students under the tuition of Bishop Smith and the Rev. M. C. Odell (now Acting Colonial Chaplain). The Anglo-Chinese College was attended by 36 boys, taught by Dr. Legge and Mr. Ho Pui-chi, at an ex- pense of $1680, whilst Mrs. Legge's Girls- school was attended by 9 Chinese girls. A European Boys School, giving to 8 boys, under the tuition of Mr. J. Stanhope, an elementary English education was started this year but had only a brief existence, It does not appear with what Mission this School, probably Protestant, was connected. The two Roman Catholic Seminaries con- tinued to flourish; the one in Queen's Road, under Bishop Raimondi and Father Rizzolati was attended by 18 students and cost $960; the other, at Sookonpon, under Father Jaquemin, numbered 13 students and cost $240. The Portuguese Boys School ia Wellington Street under Mr. J. J. da Silva e Souza had a reduced attendance of 11 bors, and cost the R. C. Mission, together with the Girls-School, attended by 10 girls, $120. The Chinese School in Taipingahan, ander Mr. Wong Pau-lou and Mr. Tong Joannes, was attended by 16 boys, oust- ing the Mission $48. The other Chiness Schoul, attended by 40 boys under Mr. Cheung Ki-chan, continued to receive the Government Grant of $120. The at- tendance at the five Government Schools declined this year to 105, there being no more than 21 boys in average atten- dance st euch School, which showed that the Committee's attempt to forcibly produce an increase of attendances by a system of fines inflicted on the teachers had failed. But the year 1853 witnessed a great change in the constitution of the Committee and in the conduct of the Schools. During the greater part of the year Mr. Medhurst was the only member of the Committee present in Hongkong. Mr. Odell however inspect. ed the Schools occasionally. In autumn (13th September, 1853), Mr. Hilliar per- suaded the Government to invite the Rev.
18
M. C. Odell, the Bishop's Chaplain and the Rev. Dr. J. Legge of the London Mission to join the Committee. Dr. Legge's zones- sion to the Committee brought about in a short time a complete revolution of the Committee's edusational policy. He was opposed, as a staunch dissenter, both to the previous system of working the Government Schwois as feeders to an Episcopalian Col. lege like St. Paul's and to the principle of spreading the religion of Christ by officers appointed by and inveated with the authority of the Government, and finally he was the principal local ad- vocate of combined Anglo-Chinese teaching. So long as Bishop Smith remained Chairman of the Committee, Dr. Legge of
could Course
not do
very much in furtherance of his own dissenting views diametrically opposed they were to the ecclesiastical and educational interests represented by the Bishop, but what little he could do he did at once and by persistent effort he started 租 move- ment which eventually succeeded in per- manently seenlarizing the education given in Gaverament Schools. Within two days after Dr. Legge had joined the Committee, a plan was issued (15th September, 1893) for offering to the scholars of each Govern- ment School half-yearly prizes, with a tariff of fixed payments, greatest proficiency in Scripture knowledge, $1.50; in the English language, $1.00; in the Four Books of Confucianism, $1.50; ja Geography, $1.60. The first payments under this tariff, amounting to $10, were made at the next prize distribution held at St. Paul's College by Bishop Smith (5th January, 1854). Another remarkable step taken by the Committee, in 1853, consisted in issuing printed instruc- tions to the Masters of the Govern ment Bchools, requiring each Master to urge the people to send their children to school, to open school (as heretofore) every morning with prayer, to explain thereupon the Scriptures for half an hour before com-
fullow :-
autumn
MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN HONGKONG.
mencing the ordinary lessons, and to give on Sundays none but religious Christian in- struction. The list of books now prescribed by the Committee is the same as above mentioned but significantly omits the Church Catechism. The religious conscience dif- ficulty is to be dealt with as follows. If the parents of any scholar object to the reading of the Bible, the Master should explain the great benefit of acquiring the knowledge which this Book teaches and he should inform them that the Christian re- ligion is not a foreign religion, that it did not originate in England but in the East, and is common to all the world, having been given by our common Father, God. It they atill object, then the boy may be excused He must not be from reading the Bible. turned away from the School, but his parents should be from time to time ad- monished, and then perhaps they will allow their children to be instructed in this Book which contains nothing but what is truly good.' The rule was now made-and this no doubt became unpopular with the parents and caused diminished attendance-that oue half of each week day was to be devoted to the study of the Scriptures and of books composed under the superintendence of for- eigners, and the other half of the day to the study of the Chinese classios. But another and even
more important change, made consequent upon Dr. Legge's accession to the Committee, was that, since autumn 153, English teaching was introduced in two of the tire Government Schools, viz. in the Victoria and Wongnaichung Schunls, by means of two Chinese pupil teachers ob- tained from St. Paul's College.
1854. During this year, St. Paul's College numbered 21 students, taught by Bishop Smith and Mr. Odell. The Anglo-Chinese College numbered 36 students, taught by Dr. Legge and Mr. Ho Pai-chi, and Mrs. Legge's Girls-School counted 9 Chinese girls in attendance, the two Schools costing the London Mission $1680.
The Roman Catholic Mission had 18
15
students in the Seminary in Queen's Road under Bishop Raimondi and Father Riz- zulati, and 13 students at the Svokonpou Ecclesiastical School, the latter costing the French Mission des Etrangères $384. At the Taipingshan School, under Mr. Wong Pan-lo, the Propaganda Society had 16 boys under instruction, costing the alission $120. In the R. C. Grant-in-Aid School, taught by Cheung Ki-chan, there were 43 boys, for whom the Government paid $120.
The Educational Committee, now consist- ing of Bishop Smith, the Hon. C. B. Aillier, Rev. Dr. J. Legge and Røv, M. C. Odeli, reported that 5 Goverment Schinds were at work during this year with accommodation for 150 scholars (nt. Vietoria, Wongusi- chung, Stanley, Little Hongkong and Aber- deen). In January 1814, the Committee, recommended to the Government that the study of English should in this English Colony be encouraged as much as possible." This recommendation was in harmony with a strong feeling now arising once more among the European residents who fre- quently complained that the whole educa- tional energies of the Colony served almost exclusively to benefit the Chinese and pro- moted Chinese literature, whilst the children of European and other non-Chinese re- sidents were (owing to their unwillingness to attend what were virtually Chinese But Schools) almost entirely neglected. the Government would not move in the
desired dirention.
The Educational Committee also reported that the erection of two School-louses had been nummenced by the Surveyor General, ene at Wungnaichung and oue at Victoria (Western extremity of the present Civil Hospital site). An examination of all the bigger boys from the Government Schools was held at St. Paul's College (January, 1854) and on the basis of the results oh- tained at this examination, prizes were distributed and seven of the most promising scholars selected by the Lord Bishop of Victoria and transferred, with their entire
ril