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The brothers and parents of the Wantsai boys have more intimate associations with English people than have the relations of Yaumati boys. Half the Wantsai boys' guardians can speak English; very few can in Yaumati. The brightness referred to probably is an ability to seize and adopt Western ideas.
21. Belilios Public School for Girls.-The Belilios Public School has for the first time for many years shown a falling off in numbers. I am unable at present to assign any definite cause for this. A full inspection is to take place in 1915. The work and general tone of the School continue to be very satisfactory.
22. The following extracts are from the report of the Head Mistress:
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Building and Equipment.-The teachers' rooms have been fully furnished, and 27 seats in the old building have been supplied with backs. Two hundred and fifty catalogues of books in the Library have been printed at the Gaol.
"Discipline. A noticeably friendly feeling exists between teachers and pupils, and it is very rarely that a dispute occurs.
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Staff.-The Staff remains the same in total number as in the previous year, but there is one English Mistress more (Miss Clarke) and one Chinese Mistress less (Mrs. Tsang Lai-shi). The latter resigned on pension at the end of the year, after 20 years' service, and Miss Clarke, from Cheltenham, was appointed because of the additional numbers in the higher Classes. She arrived on December 31st and has been appointed to Class 3.
"Organisation. Now that Vernacular and English sides of the school have been combined, the course of study has been considerably modified. Whereas pupils used to study Chinese for seven years, and afterwards English for seven years more making a hopelessly long curriculum, English and Chinese are now taken together in all Classes, and the school course is fixed as 11 years. The three lowest Classes are called Standards, and these take English for one hour a day only; in the succeeding Classes 8-1, the time given to English is gradually increased, and the highest Class takes Chinese for only half an hour daily. It is too early yet to say whether this dual study will overcome the previous difficulty, i.e., the comparatively small number of pupils to reach the highest Class.
"Studies.-9 Preliminary and 3 Senior candidates sat for the Oxford Local Examinations last July, and all passed. This is the fifth year in succession without a failure in the Oxford Classes. 7 Scholarships have been awarded to the best pupils in English in the Upper Classes-a year's free education.
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"In the last examination in connection with the Technical Institute, 8 Belilios Public School pupils obtained passes-4 in the Women Teachers' Class (2 of whom got distinction) and 4 past pupils secured a pass in Shorthand (1 with distinction). Vernacular pupils left during the year to become teachers in Kwang-tung Province and elsewhere, making a total of 33 teachers from Belilios Public School in 2 years. 4 recent English students have become teachers, and 3 stenographers.