CO129-534-3 Report of Retrenchment Commission 4-5-1931 - 19-2-1932 — Page 136

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136.

9.

5.

FEES AT GOVERNMENT SECONDARY SCHOOLS

It is the considered opinion of the Commissioners

that too much is done for secondary education and too litt

The former could be curtailed without any

for primary,

detriment to the Colony. The method in which this should be

•

done is by raising the fees at Goverment secondary schools.

At present the fees bear no relation to the cost of providing

the education. These should be raised until the gap between

the two is appreciably reduced. In order to do this it will

first be necessary to price cost the department and the

schools. Encouragement should be given to intelligent boys

and girls, whose further education will benefit the community,

by the provision of a number of free scholarships.

10.

GRANT IN AID SCHOOLS.

The basis on which grants are paid should be rationalized

Under the present system those non Government schools known

as Grant in Aid Schools (English) almost all of which are

den ominational, receive a Science Grant, a University

Examination Grant, and a Capitation Grant. The Capitation

Grant is calculated on the average yearly attendance, and is

based on a graduated scale; namely $50 per pupil in the

higher classes, $30 per pupil in the Remove classes, and $20

per pupil in the Lower Classes. This differentiation

according to the class of the pupil naturally encourages

schools to place as many boys as possible in the higher

classes, not always with proper regard to their scholastic

ability. The Commissioners do not consider the amounts of

the grants allowed to these schools excessive. The Grant in

Aid Schools do very satisfactory work in the Colony, and

according to the Report of the Director of Education for 1929

nearly five thousand pupils were that year being given