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11697

(No. 33.)

MY LORD,

102

No. 52.

BARBADOS.

GOVERNOR SIR G. T. CARTER to THE EARL OF ELGIN.

(Received April 2, 1907.)

Government House, Barbados, March 13, 1907. In compliance with the instruction contained in the last paragraph of Mr. Lyttelton's circular despatch of the 26th of August, 1905, I have the honour to transmit, for your Lordship's information, a copy of a report that has been made by the Board of Education on the measures taken during the year 1906 to promote the teaching of the rudiments of hygiene in the public schools of this Colony.

16069

(No. 214.) MY LORD,

103

No. 53.

CEYLON.

GOVERNOR SIR H. A. BLAKE to THE EARL OF ELGIN. (Received May 13, 1907.)

The King's Pavilion, Kandy, Ceylon, April 23, 1907. IN continuation of my despatch, No. 185, of 9th April, 1906,* on the subject of the teaching of the rudiments of hygiene in the schools of the tropical Colonies, I have the honour to forward the enclosed report by the Director of Public Instruc- tion showing the progress made during the year 1906, together with a copy of the syllabus.t

I have, &c.,

HENRY A. BLAKE,

Governor, &c.

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

| 2

Reference :-

885

9 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

Enclosure in No. 52.

I have, &c.,

-

G. T. CARTER,

Governor.

REPORT BY THE SECRETARY OF THE EDUCATION BOARD.

During the year 1906, in addition to the books already in use on the subject of sanitation and hygiene, the Board of Education had under consideration the pre- paration of a text-book suitable to the needs of the Colony embodying the substance of certain lectures which had been forwarded to them at the instance of the Secre- tary of State for the Colonies. But before definite action was taken in the matter, the book entitled "Lessons on Elementary Hygiene and Sanitation" by Dr. W. T. Prout, was received by the Board, and this was thought so admirable that the decision to prepare a special hand-book was abandoned.

2. This book has been placed on the "Instructions to Elementary School Teachers for 1907" as one of their examination exercises, and as soon as the teachers and pupil teachers have become fairly familiar with it, it will be adopted as a reading book for the higher standards. The Board's first intention was to require Dr. Prout's book to be read at once by the children of the higher standards, but on further consideration this plan was deferred until the teachers themselves had had an opportunity of studying it.

3. It will be within the scope of these remarks to mention that long ago the Education Board of this Colony introduced two excellent books into the Elementary Schools: (a) Nelson's class book on Domestic Economy, and (b) Longman's Domestic Economy Readers. These two books familiarize children with the rules of health and the benefits to be derived from cleanliness both of their surroundings and persons and ventilation. A great deal is also to be found in these books on the subject of water and food, and the diseases to be contracted from the presence of impurity in either.

1

4. But it is not only from books that the children are taught cleanliness. The Inspectors of Schools are very careful to note that the schools are kept clean and airy, and there are but few teachers who are offenders on this point."

5. The subject of "cleanliness" has also been placed among the "Moral Lessons" required of the standards, and it is examined in at the Annual Premium Examination.

March 12, 1907.

J. R. NICHOLLS, Secretary, Education Board,

Barbados.

Enclosure in No. 53.

SANITARY INSTRUCTION, 1906.

The course of lectures which was given to teachers in 1905 was sufficiently suc- cessful to justify the holding of a similar course in 1906. Some modifications were made in the syllabus, a copy of which is annexed. The course was held in Colombo from August 6th to August 25th, it was attended by 21 teachers from Government Schools and 18 teachers from Grant-in-Aid Schools. was present throughout, who marked the attendance, acted as interpreter, and super- A Sub-Inspector of Schools intended the general management. I was away from Colombo on furlough and can therefore not speak of these lectures from personal knowledge, but I am assured by medical officers and others that they were most successful and that the teachers showed a great deal of intelligence and interest in the subject. It must be remem- bered that the teachers are many of them men who have received a good education in their own language and some of them have sufficient acquaintance with native medicine to give them an interest in medical and sanitary questions. The portion of the course which dealt with malaria was followed with the closest attention.

2. A Sinhalese translation of Mrs. Brander's Talks on Health, with some slight modifications, was made by the Christian Literature Society, the Sinhalese termino- logy being revised by a member of the staff of the Government Training College. This has been distributed to the teachers of all Government schools, the present number of which is 597, in order to help them in giving the necessary explanations to the sanitary catechism which is taught in all the schools from the fourth standard upwards.

J. HARWARD, Director of Public Instruction.

April 5, 1907.

17369

No. 54.

MALTA.

ACTING GOVERNOR BARRON to THE EARL OF ELGIN. (Received May 16, 1907.)

♥

(No. 81.) MY LORD,

I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Lordship's circular

The Palace, Valletta, May 11, 1907. despatch of the 28th March last, on the subject of the teaching of the rudiments of hygiene in the schools of Crown Colonies and Protectorates.

2. With reference to the 5th paragraph of the circular, I have the honour to state that, when Sir Charles Mansfield Clarke's [my] despatch, No. 175, of the 8th September last,§ was written, it was hoped that the course of lectures prepared

*No. 4.

• No. 20.

↑ Not reprinted.

‡ No. 51.

§ No. 30.