AnnualReport-1882 — Page 28

4. The proportion of boys to girls, enrolled in the Schools under Government supervision, deserves attention, the more so as there are but two or three Girls-schools in existence in this Colony apart from those under Government supervision. In the latter Schools we had in 1882 but 1241 girls, as compared with 3941 boys, whilst the Census of 1881 showed but a slight difference in respect of sex, for there were 10,629 Chinese boys and 9,940 Chinese girls returned as under sixteen years of age. Among the non-Chinese population the relative proportion of boys and girls is tolerably equal. It appears, therefore, that we may safely infer from the above given figures, that two thirds of the total number of girls in the Colony, who ought to be sent to school, receive no schooling at all and conse- quently, as a matter of fact, in most instances no education worth having.

5. Of the 80 Schools under Government supervision, there is but a small minority teaching English. The vast majority of the children in the Colony learn Chinese only. In 1882 there were 64 Schools in which a purely Chinese education is given, but in most of these Schools Christian teaching is superadded to the teaching of Confucianism under the Grant-in-Aid Scheme. Two (Missionary) Girls-Schools give a European education in the Chinese language, and 2 other (Missionary) Schools, of a mixed nature, give a European education in the Portuguese language. There were further 6 Schools giving a European education in the English language and 8 Schools which give an English education with Chinese in addition. English teaching is advancing in the Colony in quality rather than in extent, yet there is from year to year a steady, though slow, progress made in promoting a knowledge of the English language among the people residing in Hongkong.

6. As regards the range of subjects comprised by the education given in the various Schools under Government supervision, the Government Central School stands forth, facile princeps, among all the educational establishment of the Colony, owing to the unrivalled range of subjects it comprises. Whereas, for instance, the highest classes in such a well-organised School as St. Joseph's College, consisting of Portuguese and Chinese boys, are taught neither Portuguese nor Chinese, and could be examined merely in the following English subjects, reading, composition, arithmetic, grammar, geo- graphy and history, the corresponding classes in the Government Central School, consisting of boys of almost any nationality, were examined by me both in English and in Chinese, viz. in reading, map drawing, arithmetic, algebra, composition, dictation, Euclid, geography, grammar, history, mensuration, translation from Chinese into English, translation from English into Chinese, Chinese essay-writing, Chinese letter-writting and Chinese prosody. I only fear that multa are being preferred at the Central School to multum and that the load here laid on young shoulders, through the extraordinary difficulty of the written Chinese language, is too heavy to be compatible with the physical and mental health of weakly boys in a tropical climate. It is noticeable, on the other hand, that St. Joseph's College, the princidal school of the Portuguese community and filled with an overwhelming majority of boys who speak but Portuguese, does not teach (nor employ in teaching) the language of Camoes, nor does the Hongkong Public School, specially designed for European Protestant boys, teach anything but English. The Hongkong Public School, however, laudably added in 1882 to its subjects the teaching of Euclid, of physical geography and geology. It is desirable, in my opinion, that Schools like the Central School, St. Joseph's College and the Hongkong Public School, should-where it can be done with safety--- superadd to their present scheme of class teaching also special higher classes (requiring boys to remain a year longer in school) for book-keeping, chemistry and physiology, and for Latin. There has been visible for years past a natural tendency to expand in that direction the range of subjects comprised by the teaching of the Schools at present existing in the Colony, but the demand for such teaching is still small and the natural tendency referred to is hampered by the extra-ordinary difficulties of the written Chinese language and by the multiplicity of different languages and dialects spoken in the Colony. The teaching given in the Schools under Government supervision represents at present three separate language viz. English, Portuguese, and Chinese, and Chinese teaching is moreover given in three different dialects, as some schools teach Punti, some Hakka and some Hoklo.

7. As regands the Government Central School, I have but little to add to the Report of the new Head-Master, Mr. WRIGHT, beyond detailing the results of the examination. This examination was this time conducted by me in a far more searching and comprehensive manner than before, as, by an understanding with the Head-Master, the examination was not arranged, as formerly, as a mere pass- examination, confined to the limited range of subjects required by the Grant-in-Aid Scheme, nor merely on the basis of the rule of 200 attendances. Every boy, present in school whilst the examina- tion lasted, was examined in every subject that had been taught in his respective class in the course of the year, whether he had been in school only a few days or throughout the whole year. I drew up the examintion papers and framed the questions in each subject myself independently, on the basis of what had been taught in each class, and none of the Masters saw the papers before they were given out to the boys, except the Head-Master who confined himself to suggesting, in the case of two or three papers, that a few of the papers set by me be made more difficult for prize purposes.

For this same reason, of combining with this examination the annual prize-examination, I had set more numerous questions in each subject than is customary at the pass examinations of the Grant-in-Aid Schools. The severity of the test applied lifts, therefore, the results of this examination beyond all comparison with the results of Grant-in-Aid School examinations, even considering that at the latter examinations two-thirds of the marks possible entitle to a pass, whilst at the Central School I passed at this examina- tion all who had made half marks. Under these circumstances it is highly creditable to the new Head-Master of the Central School and to his staff that, as the net result of such a searching