CO129-170 - Sir Kennedy - 1875 [1-3] -- Acting Governor Austin - 1875 [3-6] — Page 225

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Mr Frederick Stewart, the Impector of Schools, reader

comment of

mme mu

any

ecessary.

The Schools under Mr.

Stewart's able superintendence.

are expercising

a most important

influence

and beneficial the Chinese and European portion of the population.

over

I have the honor to be.

Lord My You Lordships mal obedient

humble servant

Governor.

No. 30.

GOVERNMENT NOTIFICATION.

The following Annual Report on the state of the Government Schools in Hongkong for the Year 1874, is published for general information.

By Command,

Colonial Secretary's Office, Hongkong, 23rd February, 1875.

No. 17.

J. GARDINER AUSTIN, Colonial Secretary.

HONGKONG, 17th February, 1875.

SIR,I have the honour to forward to you the Blue Book Returns and the Annual Report on Education in the Colony for 1874.

2. The total number of scholars taught in the schools which are subject to Government super- vision was 2,563, giving an increase of 283 over the previous year. This increase was not confined to any one class of school, but was general throughout. In the Government Schools, properly so called, there was an increase of 93, and in the schools which receive grants-in-aid there was an increase of 190. 3. In the attendance, too, there was a marked increase, the minimum being 126 in advance of 1873. This is the more satisfactory, as the typhoon of the 23rd September last, was at one time supposed to have completely disorganized most of the schools for the remainder of the year. The break in the attendance was, however, of comparatively short duration. Where the schoolhouses were demolished, others were rented within a fortnight; and, except in the case of one or two schools, it would hardly have been known by the middle of October, that anything unusual had happened. The Chinese take disaster very stoically, and they are not at all exacting in the matters of comfort and accommodation when they have to shift into temporary quarters.

4. The schoolhouses at Aberdeen, Ap-li Chau, Mong Kok and Yau-má Ti were completely destroyed, and the masters made very narrow escapes with their lives. The masters at Ap-li Chau and Mong Kok had put the school records in their sleeves when they saw that they must flee; and with these, the only things they could save, they escaped from their falling houses into water which reached to their shoulders. Both men are in very bad health, due doubtless to anxiety and exposure. 5. All the other schoolhouses suffered more or less, but a vacancy of ten days was, in most cases, sufficient to enable the repairs to be made.

6. The Village Schools supported by Government call for no special remark. The number of scholars advanced from 998 of the previous year to 1,054. The attention of the masters was called at the beginning of the year to the importance of teaching Geography, and the result was very satisfactory. The geography of China, to which the teaching for the year was confined, was in one or two cases committed to memory as it stood in the book, and few intelligent answers could be obtained to questions which the book did not contain; but, in the majority of cases the subject was fairly taught and understood. Notwithstanding this, geography is looked upon as an innovation; and, if constant supervision were not exercised, the study would soon disappear from the schools. In the fact that the teaching is, for the present, confined to the geography of the "Eighteen Provinces" is to be found the only lever by which the conservatism of the masters could be moved.

7. As soon as a suitable book can be prepared, Arithmetic will be introduced into the schools: but, considering that none of the masters have had any special training in figures, it is perhaps unwise to refer to the experiment. There is no inaptitude on the part of Chinese boys for the study. On the contrary, they advance rapidly in it; but, until trained masters can be got for the schools, it is hopeless to look for real progress in subjects which depart from the beaten track of Chinese school- learning.

8. The question of a Training School for teachers is a very difficult one for Hongkong. If the time were ripe for a revolution against the traditions of centuries, a training school here would serve for the adjoining Province as well as for the Colony; but such an era is too far distant to be seriously thought of. The consequence, therefore, is that, to get an efficient training school, the Colony would have to go to great expense for the training of three or four masters a year, after the first forty or fifty had been made competent. The English schools in the Colony will, some day, pave the way for such an institution; but, at present, they are almost useless for that purpose, as the case of the Aberdeen school will show.