less for the few provided schools ich catered purely
for the children of European parents who could not
send them home for their education.
The system of "vernacular" education might, however,
possibly be worth study despite China's acknowledged
tradition in this matter. A few of these schools were
provided by the Government, including a number in the
rural areas, but the great bulk were run as private
concerns including a number financed by charitable
Registration of all schools with ten
institutions.
or more pupils was obligatory, and all had to report
regularly regarding curriculum, text-books and
qualifications of teaching staff. If these were
all satisfactory the school drew a Government subsidy
on a certain fixed scale, depending partly on the
rent paid for the premises used. The administration
of this important branch was largely in the hands of
four Chinese Inspectors of local origin who happily
combined a deep knowledge of Chinese literature with
the possession of good degrees at Oxford and Cambridge.
It is perhaps worth mentioning parenthetically
that for several years the highest marks for mathematics
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