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We must, however, draw attention to the scales of pay. On this subject we have received a memorandum from the Rector, and we can compare the present rates with those proposed by him :- Present Scales. Rector's Scheme.

Rs.

Assistant masters without degrees Assistant masters

with degrees

Masters (2nd-class

honours at

a

British Univer-

sity)

Senior master

Rs.

1,800-300-2,400

4,000-250-5,000 5,000-250-6,000 (after 10 years)

1,500-100-3,000

3,000-150-5,000 6,000 (after 24

7,000-500-9,000 9,000

years)

6,500-250-10,500 12,000

It is admitted that under the present conditions the masters are nearly all Europeans and the assistant masters Mauritians locally appointed. On the other hand the Rector complains that in order to qualify, an assistant master is tempted to neglect his preparation of class work for his degree studies". The result is a most unsatisfactory divergence between the two sections of the staff, and this would be accentuated by the Director's scheme of pay, which is intended to make masterships in Mauritius more attractive to the British candidate. It is here that the exaggera- tion of standards has had its effect, for we regard it as an exaggera- tion to aim at recruiting half the staff from second-class honours men in Great Britain; this is not only more than the Colony can afford, but it is not necessary for the nature of the ordinary work. We are surprised also that the Royal College trusts so little to its own alumni for its staff, and that the assistant masters are in any way discouraged from working for a degree. We consider that the standard of development in Mauritius is such that every effort should be made to recruit masters locally, with an inducement to obtain degrees.

While recommending that the general retrenchment of ten per cent. should apply to the whole staff of the Royal College and School, we propose that the future rates of pay should be :-

Assistant masters without degrees Assistant masters with degrees

Masters

Senior master

Rs.

1,600-100-2,400

3,600-150-4,800

5,000-250-7,500 8,000

The rate of pay proposed for the masters rests on the proposed junior scale for technical officers, Rs.6,300-9,000, with a reduc- tion in view of the fact that masters can and do very considerably

81

We note that these supplement their income by private tuition. rates will be greater than those fixed by the Herchenroder Com- mittee in 1919.

13. Of 339 boys at the Royal College, 136 are scholars and exhibitioners and pay no fees at all; in addition the scholars receive small scholarships, totalling Rs.3,200. To the grant of scholar- ships and exhibitions from the Primary Schools-and these account for 90 of the number-we can take no exception; this is a means of enabling the lower classes to send to the College boys who are certainly fit to take advantage of this secondary education, and these classes contribute so large an amount to general revenues In the Royal that their generous treatment is fully justified. College itself there are, every year, scholarship competitions in each class. On general grounds we consider that this is not reason- able in the case of the younger boys in the lower classes, who should not be exposed to this kind of competition at too young an age and at the preparatory stage. We recommend that there should be no scholarships or exhibitions for boys at the College, until they With this restriction we sup- complete the Lower Middle course. port the recommendation of the Rector that for the sixteen class scholarships and exhibitions there should be substituted four senior and four junior open scholarships, tenable for three years, and carrying free tuition, books, and travelling, but no money allow- ance. The small savings secured by this scheme should be utilized for increasing the allotment for science requisites, which in the present estimates has been reduced too far.

14. The scale of fees for paying pupils is extraordinarily low. We count as very fortunate the parent of the upper or middle classes who can give his son a Royal College education either free of all charges or at the very low average rate of less than twelve pounds a year. But we do not endorse the Rector's pro- posal for raising fees. This might be a deterrent to the classes whose claim to cheaper education is justified by the large demand which the State already makes on their low taxable capacity; and we are averse from multiplying small extra charges. But in considering the case for increased general taxation we do not neglect the fact that the Royal College is so far from covering its cost, and so far from obtaining in fees the amounts which a well-to-do parent might ordinarily expect to pay.

CHAPTER VI.-FORESTS.

The cadre of the Forest Department includes a Conservator, an Assistant Conservator, and a Chief Inspector of Forests, together with 2 Inspectors, 10 Rangers, 16 Foresters, 28 Forest Guards, and 30 Woodmen, costing for personal emoluments Rs.151,674 in the budget of 1931-32. Apart from these one forester and three

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Reference-

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