His Excellency the Governor has signified his intention of extending the course of study by the introduction of Lectures on the simpler elements of Science,--Chemistry, Electricity, and other branches of Natural Philosophy. I trust that, at first, only very moderate expectations will be entertained of their success. Considerable difficulty must attend the communication of a knowledge of these subjects through the medium of a language in which the scholars are but in their first stages of advancement, and for the ordinary nomenclature of which there exist, as yet, no equivalents in Chinese. To this must be added the fact already referred to that the boys leave school by far too early for acquiring a taste for such studies. It must not be supposed that I am throwing difficulties in the way or attempting to exaggerate those that confessedly exist. In every school, where it is possible, more attention should be given to such subjects than is generally done, and the Central School should certainly not be content to remain in ignorance of such branches of knowledge considering the advantages that would arise from their diffusion. I have thought it right, however, in making reference to the proposal to moderate as far as possible any undue expectations of success. I hope that, at first, the amusement to be derived from the Lectures will be considered as not the least essential reason for their introduction, and all that it is possible to do shall be done to make them, in time, profitable sources of instruction as well.
Would the Revenue of the Colony permit of it I would recommend most strongly the appointment of another English Master not only for reasons already given but for the additional one that a class could then be formed of boys whose parents are able to pay a higher scale of fees for a higher grade of instruction than can be given under present circumstances. There are several boys now in the school who could advance to Algebra, Geometry, and kindred studies could it be found possible to devote time to them, but the time thus spent would have to be taken from more elementary subjects to the detriment of the present average proficiency of the school. For these reasons I cannot hold out hopes of much higher than present results so long as present circumstances remain as they are.
I am glad that it has at last been decided that the school is to be no longer exclusively confined to the Chinese, as this will be the first step to a more general extension of education to other and equally deserving portions of the community. How the amalgamation of the different races in one school will be found to succeed if advantage of the privilege is taken to any great extent no one can at present undertake to say. It will not be without difficulties, perhaps serious ones, but these must be encountered not only for the sake of many children in the Colony who are without the means of instruction and who, unlike their Chinese neighbours, would be very glad to avail themselves of such advantages, but also for the sake of the reputation of the Government whose duty as well as interest it is to dispense its gifts with perfect impartiality. I am only afraid that when the announcement has been made public the alacrity with which it will be responded to may be attended with serious embarrassment. That it will lead ultimately to the establishment of another school, both from the number of applications and from differences that will be found necessary in the system of teaching, I do not think there can be a doubt; and, that the public education of the Colony should tend to this result, all its well-wishers must be gratified to find.
I have not yet been able to get the Chinese department into the satisfactory state in which I could wish to see it. The inability of the Masters to comprehend a system of teaching that differs from their own, and, it may be, their tacit opposition to any change that is proposed, from their knowledge of my comparative ignorance of what a Chinese education really is, doubtless go far to retard the efficiency of this part of the work. Improvement is appearing although slowly, and it is to be hoped that ere long this duty will be not less carefully performed than the others. There seem to be grave doubts in the minds of many as to the propriety or necessity of devoting the half of the boys' time to the study of their own language. For myself I have none. I hold it to be an axiom that a boy cannot be taught a foreign language without a knowledge of his own, unless, indeed, he is sent to the country where the language is spoken, and that his progress in the one will be in proportion to his attainments in the other. Chinese is not studied at the Central School so much for the sake of making the boys acquainted with what their sages have written as that they may master as far as possible the language as a language, in the investigation of its elements, and in the construction of its parts. I know of no more humiliating spectacle than to see boys, as we frequently do in Hongkong, who know English much better than they do Chinese, who entirely neglect their own language when they begin to learn the other, and who when asked for the translation of a letter or a petition fail to render it intelligibly. If there is anything which ought to be aimed at in connexion with the School it is that this disgrace shall not attach to it.
The payment of fees has not proved the slightest drawback to the school. The sum paid into the Treasury during last year amounted to $1,231.07. I had it in contemplation to propose the raising of the fee in the Lower School this year, but, on consideration, I think it would be advisable, in the present rather unsettled state of the minds of the Chinese, to make no change for at least six months. As a rule, the parents of the boys are not in very prosperous circumstances, and hence any additional tax on their resources would not be likely to be well received. As soon, however, as trade revives among the Chinese and the Colony regains its previous status I shall propose the increasing of the fee. To do so in the meantime would be highly impolitic, and this conclusion has not been arrived at without consideration and enquiry.
I think it but right in concluding this part of my Report to take the opportunity of recording my sense of the obligations under which the school lies to C. C. Smith, Esquire, Registrar General, for the handsome contribution he put into my hands in order to increase the Prize Fund. In the present, comparatively speaking, infant state of the school any encouragement of this nature is invaluable, and I need scarcely say that I wish it were more common.
THE VILLAGE SCHOOLS,
I shall not enter, at any length, into this part of my Report as, on consideration, I find that it would involve the repetition of a great deal of what was stated last year. An attempt was then made to show what these schools are, how they are conducted, and the nature of the instruction of which they are made the vehicle. In all these respects they continue as they were. They are simply schools where the villagers can obtain for their children, free of all cost, such an education as would be given to them in any native school in China, and, although this may be very barren of what we consider as the necessary elements of any education that is worth the name, it is not to be supposed that it is useless. It is founded on principles which are strictly moral, which have minute reference to all the relations of life, and which have sustained, from centuries before Europe was civilized to the present day, the whole fabric of Chinese polity and manners. It, at least, deserves to be maintained until the Colony is in a position to substitute something better in its stead. This is not intended as a defence of a Chinese education but merely a statement of the grounds on which the Government bases its present relations with these schools.
I have, in conclusion, to refer you to the following Tables for all statistical information. I have the honour to be, Sir, Your most obedient Servant,
FREDERICK STEWART, Head Master and Inspector.
1. Aberdeen 2. Bowrington 3. Central School. 4. Girls' School.. 5. Mosque
6. Stanley
Groups not found
Maximum Enrolment Minimum Enrolment Maximum Attendance Minimum Attendance 7. Tang-lung-chau (Hakka) 25 18 14 5 8. Tang-lung-chau (Punti) 42 16 34 10 3. Central School 222 200 222 195 9. Webster's Crescent.. 15 10. West End.. 36 26 25 12 11. West Point (Hakka). 37 12 20 12. West Point (Punti) 34 20 16 9 13. Wong-nai-chung 11 2 46 8 32 25 10 40 35 20 21 13 4 44 33 43 20 20 13 16 3 Total 623 435 573 337COMPARATIVE STATEMENT of NUMBERS and ATTENDANCE in the Government Schools for 1862, 1863, 1864, 1865, 1866.
1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 No. Enrolled Average Attendance No. Enrolled Average Attendance No. Enrolled Average Attendance No. Enrolled Average Attendance No. Enrolled Average Attendance 1. Aberdeen 30 23 2. Bowrington 17 12 3. Central School 186 150 200 161 192 221 207 4. Girls' School 24 20 21 24 5. Little Hongkong 42 12 11 10 13 10 10 6. Mahometan Mosque 12 11 *7. Sai-wan 18 *8. Shek-o #9. Shau-ki-wan 10. Stanley 22 33 11. Tang-lung-chau (Hakka) 12. Tang-lung-chau (Punti) *13. Tai-tam-tuk 14. Webster's Crescent 15. West End 38 31 17 15 26 18 11 16. West Point (Hakka) 25 17 38 21 14 27 17. West Point (Punti) 40 49 40 38 41 34 18. Wong-nai-chung 16 15 24 16 11 Total 653 424 495 406 469 $92 514 425 548 458* Schools marked with an asterisk have been discontinued.
SUMMARY OF ENROLMENT and ATTENDANCE.
1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 Maximum No. Enrolled 739 535 502 597 623 Maximum Attendance 621 469 417 585 572 Minimum No. Enrolled 505 414 434 418 435 Minimum Attendance 209 301 324 330 337The Honorable W. T. MERCER, Esq.,
Colonial Secretary,
etc., etc., etc.
His Excellency the Governor has signified his intention of extending the course of study by the introduction of Lectures on the simpler elements of Science,--Chemistry, Electricity, and other branches of Natural Philosophy. I trust that, at first, only very moderate expectations will be entertained of their success. Considerable difficulty must attend the communication of a knowledge of these subjects through the medium of a language in which the scholars are but in their first stages of advancement, and for the ordinary nomenclature of which there exist, as yet, no equivalents in Chinese. To this must be added the fact already referred to that the boys leave school by far too early for acquiring a taste for such studies. It must not be supposed that I am throwing difficulties in the way or attempting to exaggerate those that confessedly exist. In every school, where it is possible, more attention should be given to such subjects than is generally done, and the Central School should certainly not be coutent to remain in ignorance of such branches of knowledge considering the advantages that would arise from their diffusion. I have thought it right, however, in making reference to the proposal to moderate as far as possible any undue expectations of success. I hope that, at first, the amusement to be derived from the Lectures will be considered as not the least essential reason for their introduction, and all that it is possible to do shall be done to make them, in time, pro- fitable sources of instruction as well.
Would the Revenue of the Colony permit of it I would recommend most strongly the appointment of another English Master not only for reasons already given but for the additional one that a class could then be formed of boys whose parents are able to pay a higher scale of fees for a higher grade of instruction than can be given ander present circumstances. There are several boys now in the school who could advance to Algebra, Geometry, and kindred studies could it be found possible to devote time to thein, but the time thus spent would have to be taken from more ulementary subjects to the detriment of the present average proficiency of the school. For these reasons I cannot hold out hopes of much higher than present results so long as present circumstances remain as they are.
I am glad that it has at last been decided that the school is to be no longer exclusively confined to the Chinese, as this will be the first step to a more general extension of education to other and equally deserving portions of the community. How the amalgamation of the different races in one school will be found to succeed if advantage of the privilege is taken to any great extent no one can at present undertake to say. It will not be without difficulties, perhaps serious ones, but these mist he encountered not only for the sake of many children in the Colony who are without the means of instruction and who, unlike their Chinese neighbours, would be very glad to avail themselves of such advantages, but also for the sake of the repu ration of the Government whose duty as well as interest it is to dispense its gifts with perfect impartiality. I am only afraid; that when the announcement has been made public the alacrity with which it will be responded to may be attended with serious embarrassment. That it will lead ultimately to the establishment of another school, both from the number of applica- tions and from differences that will be found necessary in the system of teaching, I do not think there can be a doubt; and, that the public education of the Colony should tend to this result, all its well wishers must be gratified to find.
I have not yet been able to get the Chinese department into the satisfactory state in which I could wish to see it. The inability of the Masters to comprehend a system of teaching that differs from their own, and, it may be, their tacit opposition to any change that is proposed, from their knowledge of my comparative ignorance of what a Chinese education really is, doubtless go far to retard the efficiency of this part of the work. Improvement is appearing although slowly, and it is to be hoped that ere long this duty will be not less carefully performed than the others. There seem to be grave doubts in the ruinds of many as to the propriety or necessity of devoting the half of the boys' time to the study of their own language. For myself I have none. I hold it to be an axiom that a boy cannot be taught a foreign language without a knowledge of his own, unless, indeed, he is sent to the country where the language is spoken, and that his progress in the one will be in proportion to his attainments in the other. Chinese is not studied at the Central School so much for the sake of making the boys acquainted with what their sages have written as that they may master as far as possible the language as a language, in the investigation of its elements, and in the construction of its parts. I know of no more humiliating spectacle than to see boys, as we frequently do in Hoogkong, who know English much better than they do Chinese, who entirely neglect their own language when they begin to learn the other, and who when asked for the translation of a letter or a petition fail to render it intelligibly. If there is anything which ought to be aimed at in connoxion with the School it is that this disgrace shall not attach to it.
The payment of fees has not proved the slightest drawback to the school. The sum paid into the Treasury during last year amounted to $1,231.07. I had it in contemplation to propose the raising of the fee in the Lower School this year, but, on consideration, I think it would be advisable, in the present rather unsettled state of the minds of the Chinese, to make no change for at least six months. As a rule, the parents of the boys are not in very prosperous circumstances, and hence any additional tax on their resources would not be likely to be well received. As soon, however, as trade revives among the Chinese and the Colony regains its previous status I shall propose the increasing of the fee. To do so in the meantime would be highly impolitic, and this conclusion has not been arrived at without consideration and enquiry.
I think it but right in concluding this part of my Report to take the opportunity of recording my sense of the obligations under which the school lies to C. C. Smith, Esquire, Registrar General, for the handsome contribution he put into my hands in order to increase the Prize Fund. In the present, comparatively speaking, infant state of the school any encouragement of this nature is invaluable, and I need scarcely say that I wish it were more common,
year.
THE VILLAGE SCHOOLS,
I shall not enter, at any length, into this part of my Report as, on consideration, I find that it would involve the repetition An attempt was then made to show what these schools are, how they are of a great deal of what was stated last conducted, and the nature of the instruction of which they are made the vehicle. In all these respects they continue as they were. They are simply schools where the villagers can obtain for their children, free of all cost, such an education as would be given to them in any native school in China, and, although this may be very barren of what we consider as the necessary elements of any education that is worth the name, it is not to be supposed that it is useless. It is founded on principles which are strictly moral, which have minute reference to all the relations of life, and which have sustained, from centuries before Europe was civilized to the present day, the whole fabric of Chinese polity and manners. It, at least, deserves to be maintained until the Colony is in a position to substitute something better in its stead. This is not intended as
defence of a Chinese education but merely a statement of the grounds on which the Government bases its present relations with these schools.
I have, in conclusion, to refer you to the following Tables for all statistical information.I have the honour to be, Sir, Your most obedient Servant,
FREDERICK STEWART, Head Master and Inspector.
gr
1. Aberdeen 2. Bowrington 3. Central School. 4. Girls' School.. 5. Mosque
6. Stauley
Grups not founde
A
NUMBERS and ATTENDANCH in the Government Schools during 1860.
7. Tang-lung-chau (Hakka)
8. Tang-lung-chau (Punti)
9. Webster's Crescent..
10. West End..
11. West Point (Hakka).
12. West Point (Punti)
13. Wong-nai-chung
た
144
Maximum Minimum Maximum Minimum Enrolment. Enrolment. Attendance. Attendance.
25
18
14
5
42
16
34
10
222
200
222
195
15
36
42
26
25
12
37
12
20
34
20
16
9
11
2
46
8
32
25
10
40
35
20
21
13
4
44
33
43
20
20
13
16
3
623
435
573
337
8989885389538
COMPARATIVE STATEMENT of NUMBERS and ATTENDANCE in the Government Schools for 1862, 1863, 1864, 1865, 1866.
1. Aberdeen.... 2. Bowrington
a. Central School 4. Girls' School..
+5. Little Hongkong
6. Mahometan Mosque
*7. Sai-wan--------
*8. Shek-o...
#9, Shau-ki-wan...
10. Stanley.....
11. Tang-lung-chau( Hakka)
12. Tang-lung-chau(Punti)
*18. Tai-tam-tuk.
14. Webster's Crescent.....
15. West End......
16. West Point (Hakka)........ 17. West Point (Pnati) ..... 18. Wong-nai-chung.
30
23
1862.
1868.
1864.
1865.
1860.
No. Atten-
No.
Atren-
No. Enrolled. dance. Enrolled. dance. Enrolled.
Average Average Average Average Average Average Average Average Average Average
Atten-
No. dance. Enrolled.
Atten-
No. dance. Enrolled.
Atteu- dance.
17
27
15
16
24
16
21
12
10
17
10
17
11
32
200
150
140
181
161
192
190
2211
207
24
20
- 21
24
42
12
11
13
10
10
2898 12 11 18 898=$
10
22
33
៖ទខ្លះគឺទី៩៨គតិអ៊ 5 ± 2 គទី 13
1998 1 1 1 1822 182 199
1629* 18 :: 1832 185 195
[=238R==*==R8TDE 192
22
ཌཎྜ8:3:::ཐ ུགལ
23 1824 182 182
ོ23::::33:ག
928* 2: 5A 195 188
13
13
35
13
10
80
44
45
32
12 38
31
17
15
26
18
11
21
14
27
25 38
17
20
16
10
40
49
40
38
41
34
16
15
24.
16
11
653
424
495
406
469
$92
514
425
548
458
* Schools marked with au asterisk have been discontinued,
SUMMARY OF ENROLMENT and ATTENDANCE.
1802.
1808.
1804.
1865.
1.866.
Maximum No. Enrolled
739
535
502
597
623
Maximum Attendance.
021
469
417
585
572
Minimum No. Enrolled
505
414
434
418
435
Minimum Attendance
209
301
324
330
387
The Honorable W. T. MERCER, Esq.,
Colonial Secretary,
fc., se., &c.
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