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Annexe C.
REPORT BY THE INSPECTOR OF VERNACULAR SCHOOLS.
VERNACULAR SCHOOLS IN THE COLONY,
(Table III)
During the year 89 new Private Day Schools were registered, (85 in 1919). 70 Day Schools closed: 21 of these disappeared without notification, and 7 were struck off the register. 1 Private School was transferred to the Grant List, and the School at Stanley was transferred vice versa. The number of existing Private Day Schools is now 359. Of these 1 (the Chamber of Commerce Language School) is exempted, 4 are in class A, 271 in class B and 83 in class C.
The number of Grant Schools is 54. Of these 26 are Mission Schools, 20 are managed by the Confucian Society, and 8 by the Tung Wa Society.
Certificates have been issued to 11 New Private Night Schools. Of these 6 have closed already, in addition to 8 Old Schools. The number of Night Schools now existing is 16. A School for teaching Mandarin started with a large attendance but did not last long, and the Japanese School for Chinese children has had to suspend work.
The total number of Vernacular Schools, excluding those of the New Territories, is thus 429 (54 Grant, 359 Private Day and 16 Private Night Schools). 3 applications for the registration of New Schools were refused. Of these, one for a Girls' Night School was submitted to the Board of Education and refused on their recommendation. There has been no prosecution of schools during the year.
Subsidies to the extent of $10,000 having been voted for Vernacular Schools for the first time, it was decided to award these to deserving free Schools and to other Schools which were being run at a loss. In such cases it was usually some charitable Society that had to bear the loss. Altogether 66 Schools have been so subsidised.
We have personally inspected each school in our respective spheres at least once, and through the addition of one more Sub-Inspector to the Staff schools have altogether been visited more than in previous years.
REPORT ON N. T. VERNACULAR SCHOOLS.
During the year 63 applications for subsidy were received. Of these 38 were satisfactory, and, more money for subsidies being available this year, the respective schools were all put on the List,