1887-1903
COLONIAL REPORTS-ANNUAL.
27
II.C.-Private schools in which a Chinese education is given.-Considering the facilities offered both by the Government and the grant-in-aid system for a free education in Chinese, it seems hardly credible that private schools could exist and be made to pay, but it is evident that they both exist and pay sufficiently for many ventures to be made, for they number 100, with an attendance of 2,195 scholars, one of them being a girls' school. This number includes the seven schools mentioned above in which an English education is given. These are doubtless attended by the children of those parents whose faith is pinned to an ordinary Chinese education, under the ordinary Chinese system. Cumbersome as this system doubtless is, it is believed in even by some highly educated Chinese. In some of these schools the fees are paid partly in money and partly in kind, which in some instances means a bare existence for the teacher. Many of the wealthier Chinese have their sons, perhaps with those of some near friend or neighbour, taught in their own homes by an accomplished teacher according to Chinese ideas. Comparing the number of scholars with the schools it will be seen that there is only an average of 22 boys to each school.
SECONDARY EDUCATION.
As it is still an unsettled point in England where a primary education ceases and a secondary one begins, it will be still more difficult to draw a line of demarcation in Hong Kong, where there is no one institution that pretends to give a secondary education only. The four principal English schools, viz, Queen's College, Diocesan School, St. Joseph's College School, and the Victoria English School, prepare candidates for the Senior Oxford Local Examinations, and so may be said to give a secondary education to a certain, but very limited, extent; but in all these institutions by far the majority of the boys receive only a primary education.
Queen's College, which is a Government institution, has a staff qualified to give a secondary education, but the time is not yet ripe for it to be turned into a secondary education institution only. The number of scholars on the roll is at present 1,126, and during 1899 the average daily attendance was 887.05, and the total number of scholars on roll was 1,344. The staff consists of one head master, one second master, four assistants (senior grade), and four assistants (junior grade), all Europeans, assisted by 11 native teachers and five pupil teachers. Now that no test is applied to a knowledge of Chinese, very young boys, say nine years old, Chinese reckoning, enter, and consequently education here commences with the "A. B. C." and goes up to the Senior Oxford Local Examination standard.
241
1887-1903
COLONIAL REPORTS-ANNUAL.
27
II.C.-Private schools in which a Chinese education is given.-Considering the facilities offered both by the Govern- ment and the grant-in-aid system for a free education in Chinese, it seems hardly credible that private schools could exist and be made to pay, but it is evident that they both exist and pay sufficiently for many ventures to be made, for they number 100, with an attendance of 2,195 scholars, one of then being a girls' school. This number includes the seven schools mentioned above in which an English education is given. These are doubtless attended by the children of those parents whose faith is pinned to an ordinary Chinese education, under the ordinary Chinese system. Cumbersome as this system doubtless is, it is believed in even by some highly educated Chinese. In some of these schools the fees are paid partly in money and partly in kind, which in some instances means a bare existence for the teacher. Many of the wealthier Chinese have their sons, perhaps with those of some near friend or neighbour, taught in their own homes by an accomplished teacher according to Chinese ideas. Comparing the number of scholars with the schools it will be seen that there is only an average of 22 boys to each school.
SECONDARY EDUCATION.
As it is still an unsettled point in England where a primary education ceases and a secondary one begins, it will be still more difficult to draw a line of demarcation in Hong Kong, where there is no one institution that pretends to give a secondary education only. The four principal English schools, viz, Queen's College, Diocesan School, St. Joseph's College School, and the Victoria English School, prepare candidates for the Senior Oxford Local Examinations, and so may be said to give a secondary education to a certain, but very limited, extent; but in all these institutions by far the majority of the boys receive only a primary education.
Queen's College, which is a Government institution, has a staff qualified to give a secondary education, but the time is not yet ripe for it to be turned into a secondary education insti- tution only. The number of scholars on the roll is at present 1,126, and during 1899 the average daily attendance was 887-05, and the total number of scholars on roll was 1,344. The staff consists of one head master, one second master, four assistants (senior grade), and four assistants (junior grade), all Europeans, assisted by 11 native teachers and five pupil teachers. Now that no test is applied to a knowledge of Chinese, very young boys, say nine years old, Chinese reckoning, enter, and con- sequently education here commences with the "A. B. C." and goes up to the Senior Oxford Local Examination standard.
241
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.