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a Capitation Grant for each pupil presented for examination, whether he passes or not; the idea being to encourage the preparation of Classes as a whole, as opposed to the cramming of promising pupils.
34. In 1914, Full Inspections of the following schools were made: St. Joseph's College, the Italian Convent and the English School for Portuguese; the remaining schools receiving a Casual Inspection. The results, while revealing occasional weak points, shewed that good work is being generally done.
35. The number of Grant Schools is reduced by one, Vernacular School No. 31 having been struck off the Grant List at the end of 1913 as being unnecessary.
36. The total Grant for English Schools was $37,155 ($38,264 in 1913); and that for Vernacular Schools $12,774 ($13,118 in 1913).
37. The Ellis Kadoorie School ceased to be a Grant School at the end of the year, when it was handed over to the Government, to be in future a fourth District School for Chinese, with Shaipingpun, Yaumati, and Wantsai.
ENGLISH PRIVATE SCHOOLS.
38. In the early part of the year many of the Schools did not apply for Registration Certificates, but quietly faded out of existence. Others closed during the year owing to the decrease in attendance. In previous years it has been quite common for numbers of private schools to open after Chinese New Year and continue only for a few months, while the Master was engaged in trying to obtain a post in some other capacity than that of schoolmaster. One good effect of the Ordinance is that such schools will rarely now be opened.
39. The remaining schools have been carried on regularly and satisfactorily, and in most cases shew signs of improvement. The working of the Ordinance has thus caused the voluntary closing of the least efficient schools, and has led to the survival of the fittest.
40. The work done in some of the schools is distinctly good. In others better work would be done if a less ambitious syllabus were adopted.
41. One school was started for the study of Esperanto, but disappeared during the latter part of the year.
42. A Portuguese School, opened in Kowloon, is an endeavour to prevent a literary knowledge of their language being lost by the younger generation of Portuguese resident in the Colony.