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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

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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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Enclosure 1 in No. 80.

REPORT ON THE TEACHING OF HYGIENE IN THE SCHOOLS OF THE COLONY.

(Colonial Office Circular of 28th October, 1907.)

THE HONOURABLE COLONIAL SECRETARY,

Southern Nigeria,

I AM asked to write a brief report as above for the information of His Excellency.

Hygiene has been taught for some years in the schools of the Colony. In the old Protectorate of Southern Nigeria, the teaching of the rules of health was pro- vided for in the codes of 1903 and 1905. The subject has been taught in all Elementary and Secondary Schools receiving Government aid, as an obligatory subject since January, 1904. The text-book is Dr. Collet's " Elements of Physiology and Public Health," and recently Dr. Strachan's book has been adopted as an additional text-book in the Eastern and Central Provinces.

The system adopted in the old Protectorate is that, in the lower standards, the teacher teaches from the book by means of the blackboard. 'In Standard V, the pupil is expected to show an adequate knowledge of the text-books.

In the Lagos schools the ordinary school work is stimulated by the offering of special prizes in sanitation at Annual Schools Exhibition.

At Bonny Government School, which has 80 resident pupils, special efforts have been made to inculcate the rules of health by daily practice. The boys, who are mostly sons of chiefs, sleep under mosquito curtains, which they are required to keep in repair.

The danger from mosquitoes breeding on stagnant water is inculcated. The boys are also encouraged to drink only pure water, and, in other respects, attention to sanitary laws is insisted upon.

The results of the teaching of hygiene in the schools of the Colony have been, to some extent, satisfactory. Even where the standard of instruction is low, interest in the subject has been aroused, and some sound general ideas have been imparted to the children.

There is reason to hope that good results will ensue from what has been already done, if only for the reason that the West African is quick to learn from the white man and because the imitative faculty is strong within him.

When visiting schools, I have been very careful to ascertain by questioning the progress made by the children in this important subject. I regret to state that in many schools the standard of instruction is very low, and that in the vast majority of cases the fault lies with the teachers. It is difficult for the ordinary young teacher, who has not learned the subject in school, to give instruction in hygiene. It is only in rare cases that a teacher has the application or intelligence to learn anything beyond the words of the text-book, and of these he fails often to understand the full meaning.

The medical officers who examined in sanitation at the recent Schools Exhibi- tion in Lagos declared that little progress was being made, and they also came to the conclusion that the fault lay with the teachers.

If we are to make the teaching of hygiene in schools efficient, special efforts must be made to teach the teachers how to instruct their classes in this subject, This can best be done by lessons given by medical officers to small classes of teachers, by means of the text-books in use, diagrams, and the use of the blackboard.

I proposed this scheme to the Principal Medical Officer (Dr. Strachan), and he took the matter up at once, and has issued a circular to medical officers requesting them to arrange for such classes. Attendance of teachers in Government and Assisted Schools will be compulsory on the part of all requiring such instruction.

There is a slight difficulty about the two text-books referred to, of which a free issue is desirable.

Neither the medical officers nor the teachers (many of whom are paid small salaries) should be required to buy these books, of which, I believe, the Government has a stock in hand. I am communicating with the Colonial Secretary on the matter. 3. A suitable lantern and the four sets of slides recommended by the London School of Tropical Medicine have been ordered for each Province, and arrange- ments will be made for courses of lectures in the principal towns. From a strictly educational point of view, however, I doubt the permanent value of popular lectures

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on this subject. Unless the lecturer is able to teach thoroughly in a manner and in language that can be understood by his hearers, and unless he can accomplish the difficult task of making their minds grasp the subject, the audience are content as a rule to gape at the pictures without comprehending their meaning. It must Be remembered also that the interpretation of the laws of hygiene into some of the native languages is no easy matter.

I think that much more can be accomplished by the enforcement of sanitary laws, and by patient and intelligent instruction in hygiene in the schools of the Colony. I have instructed the Provincial Inspectors of Schools to give special attention to the teaching of this subject in all schools under their supervision.

I think that their efforts, together with the class-instruction given to teachers by medical officers, will tend to make the teaching of hygiene in Southern Nigeria more practical and more efficient.

J. A. DOUGLAS,

Director of Education,

Southern Nigeria.

Enclosure 2 in No. 80.

PRINCIPAL MEDICAL OFFICER'S Minute, dated 3 DECEMBER, 1907, ON MALARIA PREVENTION.

Colonial Office Circular of 28 October, 1907.

HONOURABLE COLONIAL SECRETARY,

I THINK perhaps the Director of Education would know better than I the number of lanterns and slides he would require for his schools. But I would venture to suggest that, at first, there should be one in each great centre. (The capital of each Province, if the greater number of schools exists in those places.)

2. I would advise that the sets of slides supplied by the Committee be procured. Those of local interest mentioned, and of which negatives must be forwarded, can now wait for the future. They are not of such importance as the others.

You would need for each lantern :-

(1) A set illustrating malaria.

(2) A set illustrating impurities of water, with illustrations of wells, springs,

rains, clouds.

(3) A set illustrating germs of various diseases.,

(4) A set illustrating other features of the text-book.

3. I have not now a catalogue of slides; but if the Director of Education would care to look through my set at the Lagos Institute, he might make a list of what he would require.

4. For the medical officers' lectures to teachers, though a lantern and slides would be a valuable additional means of imparting instruction, it would not be necessary to delay action because of their absence. Much could be done to teach the teachers how to utilize the text-books for the instruction of their pupils, even without the lanterns, and pending their arrival. This has long been done in Lagos I believe.

H. STRACHAN,

Principal Medical Officer.

8 December, 1907.

Enclosure 3 in No. 80.

(Circular, No. 68/07 M.O.)

Medical Office, Lagos, Southern Nigeria,

4 December, 1907.

With Principal Medical Officer's compliments.

1. I am requested to ask medical officers in districts to give a short lecture three or four times a month, to such teachers in schools as will attend, on the subject of Elementary Sanitation in West Africa.

2. The lectures are to be based on the text-books that are in use in the schools of this Colony and Protectorate, and should aim at instructing the teachers how to teach the subject to their pupils.