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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
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Mr. Potbury was asked to attend again at the next meeting, as time did not then allow of his giving evidence.
The Committee then adjourned to Wednesday, 9th August, 1899.
FOURTH MEETING.
HENRY A. BOVELL,
Chairman.
•
Minutes of the Proceedings of the Education Committee at the Fourth Meeting, held on Wednesday, the 9th August, 1899.
Present: The Chairman (Hon. H. A. Bovell, LL.B., Q.C., Acting Government Secretary), W. M. Payne, Esquire, F.R., George Garnett, Esquire, F.R.
Absent: The Hon. Patrick Dargan.
The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed.
Mr. J. A. Potbury, Principal of Queen's College, on being examined, gave his views with regard to the standard of the education afforded at the College, and the advisability of changing the same. He also compared the standard of the College with that of other schools in the Colony. He considered that the number of boys at the College would be increased if the fees were reduced.
Mr. Potbury went on to say that the Cambridge Local Examination was, he considered, a very suitable standard for the award of the scholarship; but he thought it might be advisable to require of candidates special excellence in some branch of study combined with general excellence. In demonstration of the status of the Cambridge Local Senior Examination, Mr. Potbury laid on the table some papers taken from that examination and others taken from those set at Trinity College and elsewhere, between which, he pointed out, there was practically no difference of
standard.
It was decided to invite the attendance of Mr. Blair at the next meeting. The Committee then adjourned to Thursday, 17th August, 1899.
FIFTH MEETING.
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HENRY A. BOVELL,
Chairman.
Minutes of the Proceedings of the Education Committee at the Fifth Meeting, held on Thursday, the 17th August, 1899.
Present: The Chairman (Hon. H. A. Bovell, LL.B., Q.C., Acting Government Secretary), George Garnett, Esquire, F.R.
Absent: The Hon. P. Dargan, W. M. Payne, Esquire, F.R.
The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed.
An analysis furnished by Mr. Potbury of the social status of the parents of pupils at Queen's College was laid on the table.
Father Barraud, Head Master of the Catholic Grammar School, was then ex- amined. He explained to the Committee the lines on which his school was carried on, and gave a statement of the fees charged thereat.
With regard to Queen's College, Father Barraud expressed his opinion that it had done its work very well, and the results, he added, compared most satisfactorily with those of other colonial centres.
He considered that the Senior Cambridge Local Examination was a very suitable standard for the award of the scholarship, but that the conditions of the scholarship should be changed., He here read to the Committee a minute (annexed) embodying his views regarding the scholarship, which he subsequently handed in.
It was decided to invite the attendance of Mr. A. A. Thorne at the next meeting, and the Committee then adjourned sine die.
HENRY A. BOVELL,
Chairman.
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THE COLONIAL SCHOLARSHIP.
I should be sorry to see it done away with. It does a great deal of good to boys who don't win it; but its conditions want changing.
At present it is a mere nursery-ground for doctors and lawyers, Why should we pay and pay so heavily for the growing of professional men? There is always a demand for them, and the demand will always create the supply.
What we really need are men who will help to build up the Colony at the same time that they build up their own fortunes. A scholarship granted on condition that the winner went in for scientific farming would be more to our purpose. The subject would; I think, be better learnt on the spot, among the actual conditions in which the knowledge is to be used, if only we could secure a good professor.
To hold such a scholarship a young man should have a gentleman's education, but he certainly does not want a University training.
He would ultimately become not only a gentleman farmer but an employer of labour on a considerable scale, and his obligations would not end with paying weekly wages.
He ought therefore to be called upon to master the principles contained in some such book as "The Claims of Labour," by Sir Arthur Helps. He should know how to teach his people to save money, to make their cottages neat and pretty, and to find rational amusements in their spare time. As for the test, the Senior Cambridge is as good a one as can be found. The preparation for it secures a good general education, and the machinery is ready to hand and costs nothing to the Colony. With regard to specialising in classics or mathematics, I, for one, cannot see the use of it. We don't wish to produce an Astronomer Royal nor an Editor of Greek Plays. What we want are good Colonists. All the rest is vanity and affliction of spirit.
C. W. BARRAUD, S.J.
SIXTH MEETING.
Minutes of the Proceedings of the Education Committee at the Sixth Meeting, held on Friday, the 8th September, 1899.
Present: The Chairman (Hon. H. A. Bovell, LL.B., Q.C., Acting Government Secretary), George Garnett, Esquire, F.R.
Absent: The Hon. I'. Dargan, W. M. Payne, Esquire, F.R.
He out-
The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed Mr. A. A. Thorne, Head Master of the Middle School, was examined. lined the scope and curriculum of his school, and gave a statement of the fees charged. The examination taken by him was that of the College of Preceptors, the English branch in which he considered much higher than the papers set in the Oxford or Cam- bridge Local Examinations.
With regard to the Guiana Scholarship, he considered that the present conditions of tenure were proper, but thought that the standard was too low: He suggested that it should be raised to that of the Open Scholarship standard of the Oxford and Cam- bridge Universities, and that the scholarship should be reserved for science candidates exclusively every alternate year, the intermediate years being open to classical and mathematical candidates, and also to science competitors.
Touching on the question of specialising, he expressed his opinion that it was pos- sible to specialise with three masters, provided the number of scholars at the school was fairly low.
The Committee then adjourned sine die.
SEVENTH MEETING.
HENRY A. BOVELL,
Chairman.
Minutes of the Proceedings of the Education Committee at the Seventh Meeting, held on Friday, the 24th November, 1899.
Present: The Chairman (Hon. H. A. Bevell, LL.B., Q.C., Attorney-General), W.
M. Payne, Esquire, F.R., George Garnett, Esquire, F.R.
Absent: The Hon. P. Dargan,
The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed.
Mr. W. Blair, Inspector of Schools, was examined. He gave evidence with re- gard to the Primary Scholarships, the work done by the holders of which he considered was very satisfactory. He promised a statement of the careers of the scholars since the inception of the scholarships.
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