280
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result grauts indicate that effective work is being done, and we are reluctant to support any measure which might have the effect of curtailing secondary education in Mauritius. It is, however, the duty of the inspecting staff to point out any case either where the number of teachers is in excess or short of normal requirements, or where the inferior qualifications of the staff are impeding the progress of the school. The Superintendent can secure improve- ment in this respect in individual cases by the pressure which the system of grants in aid enables him to apply.
3. The 51 Government Primary Schools cost Rs.421,000, including Rs.18,000 for rent and Rs.17,000 for petty charges. The 77 Aided Schools cost Rs.450,000. It is the expenditure of these large sums which makes the Schools Department the second department in the Colony as regards cost and it is the effective administration of these large sums which must be its chief concern. There is no doubt that this expenditure is criticized in the Colony on the ground that much of it produces little result and that some of the results are bad inasmuch as the form of education is apt to detach the pupils from following the occupation of their fathers. Such a line of complaint is normal when the system of education is not general and compulsory, and on the point of fact some of this criticism is substantially true. We cannot, however, consider that the reply to this criticism should consist in the inmediate retrenchment of the facilities for primary education which is at present enjoyed by only 23,551 boys and girls according to the figures of average attendance, although the number of children of school-going age must approach 40,000. The Colony adopts the full European standard in every branch of its life except in the education of the lower classes. We consider that the introduction of a system of general education, and the provision of better-paid and qualified teachers for the Primary Schools, are the chief obliga- tions which must be faced when the financial position has been restored.
4. The Acting Superintendent of Schools has already exploited the one possible line of economy in primary education, namely, that of closing schools in cases where the local arrangement of existing schools provides some other school for the pupils within easy access. Eighteen schools have been closed on these justifiable grounds. The Acting Superintendent has also taken an entirely proper measure of economy in framing a scheme for the classification of the staff of schools according to the average attendance of each school. This prevents any redundancy of staff where the attend- ance is small or any tendency to leave fairly highly-paid teachers in charge of unimportant schools. The scheme of classification has had the approval of the School Committee and has been brought into force by the Government under Regulations approved on the 22nd May, 1931. The Acting Superintendent has informed
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us that on the figure of actuals in past years it would have been necessary to increase the budget allotment of Primary Schools for the year 1931-32 by nearly Rs.66,000, but for these measures. We consider that this economy is most useful in the present circum- stances, but we do not press that its effect should be increased by taking immediate steps to remove the head teachers of schools in those cases where they are at present drawing higher pay than the new classification will eventually allow. Also, we view with concern the fact that this classification provides only 484 head teachers and assistant teachers on rates of pay ranging from Rs.660 to Rs.3,000 while it provides no fewer than 337 monitors on a pay of Rs.300-480 and 278 probationers at a pay of only Rs.240 a year. It is true that the supply of teachers exceeds the demand for qualified assistants and that many of the 615 monitors and pro- bationers actually have teachers' certificates and are something more than pupil-teachers, but the rates of pay which they draw and the high percentage of these lower categories of teachers in comparison with the total staff in Primary Schools indicate that a large expenditure will have to be faced in future if the quality of primary education in Mauritius is to be substantially improved.
We
5. The superior staff of the Schools Department consists of an office staff costing Rs.15,185 and an inspecting staff costing Rs.32,390 under the direction of the Superintendent of Schools whose pay is Rs.12,000, but who in addition draws an allowance of Rs.1,000 for his work in connexion with examinations. have examined the duties of the office staff and are satisfied that six clerks and one typist are no more than is adequate for the work which has to be done, namely, the normal correspondence of a large departinent, the preparation of an exceptional number of salary bills, the payment of many grants in aid of varying amount and the arrangement of a multiplicity of examinations.
The organization of examinations figures prominently on the statement of duties of the Superintendent of Schools, far more prominently than is desirable for work of this class, which is very largely of a routine nature with no serious change from year to year. We have already mentioned that the Superintendent of Schools receives a special allowance of Rs.1,000 for his examination work; a similar allowance of Rs.300 is also paid to the Chief Clerk. We consider that these allowances are improper in the case of officers. whose full time is at the disposal of Government and one of whose normal duties must be the organization of examina- tions for which the Department is responsible. We consider, more- over, that this type of work must not be used to detach the Super- intendent from his most important duty, which is the active per- sonal inspection of the schools for the efficiency of which he is above all others responsible. We recommend that these allowances, together with an allowance of Rs.120 to a clerk of the department
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