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Gov. 26343.
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Gov. 27360.
Gov. 182/98.
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Gov 25588/98.
2. A Barbados scholar ought to be able to win an open scholarship at Oxford or Cambridge, in which case there will be no need for parents to supplement the allowance.
3. No Barbados scholar has ever applied for an advance.
4. The scholarships have proved beneficial to the scholars and the Colony.
5. No change is required.
(c.) JAMAICA.
1. The proposed change not désirable. Deductions would only bring the scholar into financial embarrassments.
2 & 3. The scholarships are of sufficient value (£200 a year for three years), but a passage allowance of £30 will, in future, be given, to be recovered by deductions.
^4: The scholarships have benefited the scholar, as shown by the good positions many of them occupy, and the Colony, by raising the general standard of education.
(d.) STRAITS SETTLEMENTS.
1. The arrangement proposed is in force.
2 & 3. The allowance is sufficient if due self control is exercised: the students are, to some extent, assisted by relatives.
4. The results of the system are not brilliant, but cannot be considered altogether unsatisfactory.
5. No change is necessary.
(e.) BRITISH GUIANA.
(1.) The Council think it better to make the whole scholarship forfeitable if the certificate for three successive quarters is unsatisfactory, rather than to make deductions.
2. The scholarship is sufficient, with due economy, unless scholar goes to Oxford or Cambridge, when parents assist their sons.
3. Passage allowances are given, and in future an outfit allowance of £25 will be made.
4. The scholarships have been valuable both to individual scholars (no details are given) and to the Colony as a stimulus to education generally.
5. The Principal of the College does not think it necessarily to be expected or even desired that the scholars should return to the Colony.
(J) Hong-KoNG.
No scholarships are now awarded nor are they required. Governing Body of Queen's College concurs in Secretary of State's views.
(9.) CEYLON.
1. The Executive Council think system of fines very undesirable.
2 & 3. The Board of Instruction thinks the allowance inadequate. Mr. Cull, the Director of Public Instruction, contradicts himself on this point.
Mr. Cull thinks advances from Crown Agents to students should be discouraged. He thinks outfit allowance should be made in cases of poverty-the Governor conçurs. 4. The scholarships have proved beneficial to the holders (no details).
5. Government is considering whether a second scholarship for science and modern languages should be founded.
(h.) MAURITIUS.
The Council of the Royal College only deal with the question of deductions in case of misbehaviour. Their proposal is that if the certificates from the students' tutors are unsatisfactory in any term, £5 should be deducted from the amount of the scholarship, and if such misconduct is continued in four consecutive terms the Governor and Secretary of State should consider whether the scholarship should not determine altogether.
The Governor has referred this recommendation back to the Council-because it is undesirable that it should be necessary for misconduct to continue for a year before the scholarship can be taken away.
SIR,
t
CORRESPONDENCE.
No. 1.
MR. CHAMBERLAIN to GOVERNOR SIR CHARLES BRUCE (MAURITIUS).*
(No. 151.)
Dawning Street, August 19, 1897. My attention has been called to the conditions under which scholarships are given by various Colonial Governments enabling the holders to complete their education ir Europe.
(2.) The Crown Agents, who have taken considerable trouble in the matter, and to whom the thanks of the Colonial Governments concerned are due, have pointed out that is is difficult under existing regulations to deal with those students whose conduct or diligence is not altogether satisfactory, though their shortcomings are not such as to call for so severe a penalty as the deprivation of their scholarships, and it has been suggested- that a rule which has been made by the Straits Settlements Government, but by no other in the same explicit terms, should be generally adopted.
The rule is as follows:-
The
"In England the scholarships will be paid through the Crown Agents, to whom, unless otherwise directed by the Secretary of State, must be forwarded every quarter a certificate of good conduct and proficiency in study from the principal of the college to which the holder of the scholarship is attached. full amount will only be paid if the certificates are excellent. The amount payable will be reduced by £2, £3, or £4 a month, respectively, if the certificates are less satisfactory. If the total amount of reduction in any year cærreds £35 it will be for the Governor and the Secretary of State to consider whether the scholarship should not terminate.
A scholarship of any kind ought to be tenable only during good conduct, and the introduction of such a regulation, providing not only for the total forfeiture of, but also for deductions from, the scholarship would give a greater hold over the students than has hitherto been the case.
(3.) Further, it is found that frequent applications are made by the scholars for advances of money, and it seems desirable that, in whatever way you think best, the parents of boys who obtain scholarships should be given clearly to understand that unless the emoluments which the boys receive from Government are increased by an allowance from their families their financial position in Europe must, in any case, be a difficult one, and may, in some cases, become a source of actual danger.
Some Colonial Governments, it may be noted, are more liberal than others in regard to their scholars. The Mauritius Government, for instance, not only gives £200 per annum for four years to each scholar but makes its quarterly payments in advance. Moreover, the total £800 need not, if the Governor or the Secretary of State thinks fit, be spread over the full four years, but may be paid in such sums and upon such conditions as are thought proper. Again, £75 is allowed for return passage money, out of which, if the scholar takes a cheap passage, there is an appreciable balance available to make good any little outstanding liabilities. The Straits Government gives an outfit allowance of £35, out of which £15 is generally paid in the Colony and £20 in this country. In most cases, however, a scholar finds himself obliged to draw on his ordinary allowance in advance in order to pay the initial fees of his educational career in Europe, thus starting in debt ; and while a scholarship of from £150 to £200 per annum may be sufficient and rather more
• A similar despatch was also addressed on the same date to :--
Governor Sir J. West Ridgeway (Ceylon), No. 272.
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11
J. 8. Hay (Barbados), No. 96.
A. W. L. Hemming (British Guiana), No. 185.
H. A. Blake (Jamaica). No. 239.
..
H. E. H. Jerningham (Trinidad), No, 242.
C. B. H. Mitchell (Straits Settlements), No. 237.
And, on September 2, 1897, to:-
Governor Sir Wm. Robinson (Hong Kong), No. 176.
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