PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
immim
Reference :-
C.O. 885
9 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO
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the scholars pass a satisfactory examination, and that the number of examinees sent in is sufficiently large having regard to the standard classes in secondary schools and the age of the examinees, and that the following prizes be awarded: £5 for the first prize, and £2 to each of the next seven successful candidates. The Senior Medical Officer had been giving weekly lectures on the subject, and it was intended that the teachers should be examined by officers of the Medical Department before the end of the year in order that they might have an opportunity of earning the prizes granted for proficiency. A sum of £179 was provided for this purpose. With regard to the Protectorate, education in hygiene and sanitation occupies an important position in the curriculum of the school established at Bo for the education of the sons and nominees of chiefs. It has been arranged that the medical officers in the Protectorate should patrol throughout their respective districts with the object of encouraging the natives to improve the sanitary arrangements of their towns. One of the medical officers has prepared a speech upon model towns, and this speech has been translated into Mendi by him, and prizes have been given to the chiefs of model towns.
Gold Coast.
In November, 1905, a Board, appointed by the Governor, and consisting of the Principal Medical Officer, the Secretary for Native Affairs, and the Acting Director of Education, discussed fully the question of giving instruction in hygiene and sanitation to teachers, sanitary inspectors, and dispensers. The Board were of the opinion that the schemes, for giving instruction in hygiene, &c., in operation in Lagos and Sierra Leone, were of too advanced a nature to be practicable in the Gold Coast Department, and recommended that a course of lectures, drawn up and delivered to the teachers of the Government school by the Health Officer of Accra, be adopted as the prescribed course for teachers and others. With regard to the carrying out of the scheme the Board suggested:—
(a) that hygiene and sanitation should become a compulsory subject at the examination of teachers for certificates, and that the Board of Educa- tion should be asked to award grants to those teachers who show proficiency in the subject;
(b) that the Town Councils should cause instruction in hygiene, &c., to be given to inspectors of nuisances in various townships by teachers who held certificates of proficiency in the subject, adequate remuneration to be made out of the funds at the disposal of the Town Councils; (c) that dispensers should receive instruction from the local medical officers. The Board of Education discussed the matter at a meeting held on the 2nd February, 1906, and a small Committee was appointed to consider the manner in which the recommendations should be carried out, and it was decided that the lectures of Dr. M. S. Deacon delivered to the Government school teachers should be the prescribed text-book, and that a series of lessons should be drawn up by the Director of Education on the first 12 lectures for use in the training institutions and schools in the Colony. At a meeting of the Board of Education held on the 31st May, 1906, the Director of Education submitted a series of questions on the first lecture for approval, and was directed by the Acting Governor to complete the series. This series is now being completed, and as each lecture is printed it is forwarded to all the managers of training institutions and schools.
At the teachers' examination to be held in December, 1906, hygiene will form one of the prescribed subjects of examination. In addition to the above, Lecture XIII. on maternity has been translated into the Ga and Twi languages, and is now being printed by the Basel Mission Society at Basel. On receipt of the lectures, copies will be distributed to women throughout the Colony.
Lagos,
The teaching of sanitation has been systematically carried on in the schools
of the Colony during 1906.
The subjoined statistics show the progress of the work up to date.
•
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A. Examination of scholars in connection with the annual examination of schools by the Inspector of Schools:-
October, 1902
May, 1903
March, 1905...
Presented.
Passed.
98
58
276
285
170
158
B. Examination of scholars for prizes presented at the annual exhibition of school work:—
1902
1903
1904
1905
44 scholars examined.
74 81 92
*
11
>
21
The examination in sanitation has been for the past four years the most satisfactory feature of the performance of school children at the annual exhibition, and the Exhibition Committee has recently decided that the number of prizes offered for competition in this subject shall be double the number offered in other subjects.
Southern Nigeria.
During 1904 and 1905 instruction in hygiene on the lines of Dr. Collett's book has been given in all the Government and Grant-in-Aid schools in the Pro- tectorate. The general standard of excellence in this subject is still low, as it is difficult to find native teachers competent to understand and explain it intelligently; but as a knowledge of Dr. Collett's book is prescribed for the pupil teachers' examination, this difficulty will, it is hoped, be gradually overcome. The Governor proposes to have Dr. Collett's book translated into the Ibo and Yoruba languages, and to pay a small bonus to the translator. The Principal Medical Officer is prepared to arrange for the delivery of lectures on the rules of health and kindred subjects by medical officers at the Government schools at Bonny, Sapele, Benin City, Agbede, Ŏwo, Opobo, and Warri, and also at the mission schools at Calabar, Brass, Onitsha, and Asaba.
In order to make the lectures attractive the Governor considers that it would be desirable to illustrate them by lantern slides, and has asked for permission to obtain two lanterns for this purpose one for use in the Western and Central Divi- sions and the other for the Calabar, Cross River, and Eastern Divisions-together with a number of slides of malarial parasites, Filaria and the Acarus Scaber. The necessary sanction has been given.
Northern Nigeria.
Courses of lectures on elementary hygiene and sanitation were commenced in December, 1905, at Zungeru and Lokoja. The attendance at Lokoja averaged about six, of whom two showed a very intelligent interest. At Zungeru the classes main- tained an average attendance of 30, which, in the opinion of the High Commis- sioner says much for the popularity of these lectures. The High Commissioner proposed at the end of the course that an examination should be held and certificates granted to those who satisfied the examiners. The prospect of earning a certificate is, he says, a great incentive to the educated native.
Mediterranean.
Malta.
The course of lectures for the instruction of school teachers has been prepared and was started during the last winter. It is hoped that the text-book referred to Copies of it will be sent
in the previous memorandum will be completed shortly. to the Colonial Office as soon as it is published.
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