PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
C.0.885
9 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON:
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO
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first step must, therefore, be to give to teachers the power of handling the subject from a practical point of view. It will therefore be necessary to have a definite course of instruction for the teachers, and as it may be of advantage to you to see what has been done in other Colonies, I have had printed as appendices to the enclosed Précis the Syllabuses which have been drawn up for the teachers in the Government Schools of Ceylon and Lagos. The circumstances of each Colony are of course different, and these Syllabuses may not be suitable to the Colony under your administration, but they may be of use in enabling you to frame a Syllabus adapted to the local requirements.
4. For the instruction both of the teachers and of their pupils suitable hand- books on elementary hygiene are required. As conditions differ materially in different parts of the world, I am inclined to think that the books required for each Colony should be drawn up by the local medical authorities, who would be acquainted with the prevailing diseases in each case and would therefore be able to emphasise the reference to them in the books. The same remark applies to questions of dwellings, sites, clothing, feeding, customs, and habits. Certain books, pamphlets, and leaflets, have already been prepared in some of the Colonies and I give a list of those which have been brought to my notice :-
(1) "A course of simple Lectures on Elementary Hygiene," by Dr. Strachan, Chief Medical Officer of Lagos.
(2) "A course of Lectures on Health," by Dr. W. H. Best, Medical Officer, Lagos.
(3) "Course of Hygiene for the use of Hong Kong Schools."
(4) Series of Lectures issued by the Gold Coast Government for use in Government Schools for Educational purposes.
(5) A treatise on Hygiene for use in the Schools of Southern Nigeria, by Dr. J. W. Collett.
(6) A short Treatise on Malaria, its cause and Prevention, for use in the Elementary Schools of Trinidad, by Dr. J. R. Dickson, Assistant Medical Officer of Health for Trinidad and Tobago.
(7) Mosquitoes and Suggestions for their extermination, by Mr. W. L. Underwood-printed for the use of the General Board of Health of Bermuda. (8) A leaflet on "Enteric or Typhoid Fever," by Dr. Eldon Harvey, Medical Officer of Health, Bermuda.
(9) A series of Popular Scientific Lectures delivered in the Ceylon Medical College, October, 1902, to March, 1903.
(10) Circular Memorandum issued by the Government of British Guiana to School Managers and Head Teachers, containing hints and suggestions for the prevention of consumption and other forms of tuberculosis.
(11) Lectures on elementary hygiene and sanitation, by Dr. Prout, Chief Medical Officer, Sierra Leone.
Copies of one or more of these publications have been asked for by some of the Colonial Governments, and I am dealing with these applications in separate despatches. If you consider that any of the publications are likely to be of use in the preparation of text books for the Colony under your administration, you should apply for them direct to the Colonial Governments concerned. The enclosed outline scheme for teaching Hygiene and Temperance to the Scholars attending the Public Elementary Schools in this Country may be of use to you, and also The Tropical Readers, published by Messrs. Blackie and Son, 50, Old Bailey, E.C. You will, of course, consider the question of translating any text books which may be prepared into the vernacular where necessary, and of giving suitable gratuities to the Medical Officer entrusted with the preparation of the books or to the translator. I should be glad to be furnished with six copies of any text-books which may be published by your Administration.
5. It is essential that the instruction should be not only simple and practical, but also attractive, and, in this connection I would call your attention to what has been and is being done in Sierra Leone. So far as is practicable, the handbooks should contain illustrations explanatory of the text, or the lectures should be illus- trated by magic lantern slides, as has been done with great success in the case of
• Not reprinted.
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Sierra Leone. The question of making money grants to teachers and pupils for proficiency should also be considered, with a view to stimulating interest in the subject.
In some Colonies and Protectorates, education is in so backward a condition that it may be very difficult to teach even the rudiments of hygiene, but I trust that it may be found possible to make some small beginning even in these cases and to gradually develop the instruction in course of time.
6. It appears to me that, if properly handled, the teaching of hygiene is well calculated to improve the sanitary conditions and general well-being of the tropical Dependencies, and I shall be glad to receive a brief report at the beginning of each year showing what progress has been made with it in the Colony or Protectorate under your administration.
I have, &c.,
ALFRED LYTTELTON.
The Officer Administering
the Government of
Enclosure in No. 4.
PRÉCIS OF DESPATCHES WHICH HAVE BEEN RECEIVED IN REPLY TO THE CIRCULAR OF THE 7th OF OCTOBER, 1903.
EASTERN.
CEYLON.
The Ceylon Government have appointed a small Committee, consisting of the Director of Public Instruction, Registrar of the Medical College, and the General Manager of the Buddhist Schools, to consider and report as to the best practicable method of extending the efficient teaching of sanitation in aided schools.
The Committee report that no instruction in sanitation of the slightest degree of real value is given. It consists merely in the study of text books for examination purposes. To do any good, the teaching should from the first be of a practical nature, and this can only be given by those who have themselves acquired a practical know- ledge of the subject. The first step must, therefore, be to give to teachers the power of handling the subject from a practical point of view. This can only be done by collecting groups of teachers for courses of lessons in centres where practical in- struction can be given. In Colombo, with the aid of the Medical Department, this might be done, and the Committee suggest that a three weeks' course of lectures for teachers be given every year in Colombo for the benefit of vernacular teachers. The Committee have drawn up a syllabus (of which a copy is annexed) for a three weeks' course, combining practical with theoretical instruction which might be given in the vernacular by members of the Medical Department to a class of teachers not exceeding fifty in number. At the end of the course there should be an examina- tion, and certificates of competency should be granted to those who qualify. Schools, which are under teachers who hold these certificates, should be allowed to present children for examination in sanitation and earn a grant in this subject.
It is suggested that the instruction in school should take the form of one lesson in the week given to the fourth and fifth standards. These lessons should be oral lessons of a practical nature; as far as possible they should be object lessons. No text books should be used by the pupils, but notes of lessons should be published in vernacular for the use of teachers providing material for a two years' course in the fourth and fifth standards. A grant of one rupee per head should be paid for each boy presented who has passed his standard examination, provided that the Examiner's report is favourable; and half the grant or no grant should be awarded in cases where the Examiner's report justifies such treatment. The Committee also recommend that sanitation be made a compulsory subject in all training schools and that a new vernacular text book be issued, with special reference to practical work, on the lines of Bedford's Hygiene for Indian Schools. The question of bringing the work done in Ceylon into connection with English sanitary institutes should be considered.
In conclusion the Committee wish to emphasize the fact that very little good would be done by teaching in schools unless it follows closely the lines of the measures that are being actually carried out by the Revenue Officers in charge of districts and by the Medical Department.
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