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General health is good, and this is probably due to the encouragement of athletics. Nothing is more striking than the improved physique of the boys when compared with the recollection of their meagre appearance and hunched bearing, fifteen or eighteen years ago. In those days a stoop was to a parent's eye the outward and visible sign of a scholarly habit. The condition of the boys' teeth would seem to be fair. The state of their eyesight is, I fear, extremely unsatisfactory, and will be the subject of my careful attention.
9. The end and test of the curriculum at Queen's College is the passing of the Hongkong University's Matriculation, Senior Local, and Junior Local Examinations. The first two are taken by Class 1 and the last by Class 2. The Government pays the entrance fees, so there is no excuse for boys failing to compete: in fact they are compelled to. The school test for admission to these Classes is fitness to take these examinations; and boys should not be promoted into them unless they are fit. Nevertheless year by year I have had to point to a very large percentage of failures, shewing that through either a good-natured slipshod unwillingness to refuse boys promotion or else through fear of their leaving if not promoted, boys are allowed into the top Classes who have no right to be there. They hamper the class-work and tend to give the standard of education at the College a bad name. Last year only 50% of the boys who sat passed the Matriculation, or University Local, and only one-third passed in the case of the Junior Local.
10. I hope it will not be necessary to draw attention to this weak point again. It is the only serious one on the really excellent record for the year. The numbers of passes in themselves are creditable, as will be seen from Table V where Queen's College appears as a very easy first.
11. I have much pleasure in recording the excellent tone of the school, which sets a good example well followed by the District Schools.
12. District Schools: Ellis Kadoorie, Saiyingpun, Yaumati and Wantsai.-These schools are all full, and from them considerable numbers of would-be pupils have to be turned away every Term. Increased accommodation is urgently called for.
13. At least one Mistress is now on the Staff of each School; the result is shewn in a marked improvement in English, especially in the Lower Classes.
14. The Education Committee which sat in 1917 recommended the appointment of one English teacher to each 4 Divisions of a Class or one to a maximum of 120 pupils. The war has made it impossible to give effect to this recommendation, and is to blame for the poor grounding which boys are now being given and which they will never unlearn.
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general health is good, and this is probably due to the encourage- ment of athletics. Nothing is more striking than the improved physique of the boys when compared with the recollection of their meagre appearance and hunched bearing, fifteen or eighteen years ago. In those days a stoop was to a parent's eye the outward and visible sign of a scholarly habit. The condition of the boys' teeth would seem to be fair. The state of their eyesight is, I fear, extremely unsatisfactory, and will be the subject of my careful
attention.
9. The end and test of the curriculum at Queen's College is the passing of the Hongkong University's Matriculation, Senior Local, and Junior Local Examinations. The first two are taken by Class 1 and the last by Class 2. The Government pays the entrance fees, so there is no excuse for boys failing to compete : in fact they are compelled to. The school test for admission to these Classes is fitness to take these examinations; and boys should not be promoted into them unless they are fit. Never- theless year by year I have had to point to a very large percentage of failures, shewing that through either a good-natured slipshod unwillingness to refuse boys promotion or else through fear of their leaving if not promoted, boys are allowed into the top Classes who have no right to be there. They hamper the class- work and tend to give the standard of education at the College a bad name. Last year only 50% of the boys who sat passed the Matriculation, or University Local, and only one-third passed in the case of the Junior Local.
10. I hope it will not be necessary to draw attention to this weak point again. It is the only serious one on the really excellent record for the year. The numbers of passes in themselves are creditable, as will be seen from Table V where Queen's College ap- pears as a very easy first.
11. I have much pleasure in recording the excellent tone of the school, which sets a good example well followed by the District Schools.
12. District Schools: Ellis Kadoorie, Saiyingpun, Yaumati and Wantsai.-These schools are all full, and from them considerable numbers of would-be pupils have to be turned away every Term, Increased accommodation is urgently called for.
13. At least one Mistress is now on the Staff of each School; the result is shewn in a marked improvement in English, especially in the Lower Classes.
14. The Education Committee which sat in 1917 recommended the appointment of one English teacher to each 4 Divisions of a Class or one to a maximum of 120 pupils. The war has made it impossible to give effect to this recommendation, and is to blame for the poor grounding which boys are now being given and which they will never unlearn.
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