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MR. MAYHEW said the Committee would note with much appreciation that the newly appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University and the Education Department were co-operating in order to arrive at a common policy in education. This was an important development.
In reply to a question from MR. SCOTT, MR. BURNEY said that the new institution which it was proposed to establish at Taipo might make use of the buildings of the present Normal school. The training would be given on entirely different lines.
The Committee expressed an earnest hope that the necessary money would be forthcoming.
The Report was approved in the light of the foregoing discussion.
Nyasaland Protectorate: Secondary Education for Africans. (A.C.E.C. 37/38).— THE CHAIRMAN outlined the position as given in the paper under discussion. The question had arisen whether Secondary education of Africans should be controlled entirely by the Government, by Missions, or by a Governing body with representatives of both sides upon it. Mr. Lacey, the Director of Education, had informed the Sub- Committee that there was no possibility of a federation of the non-Roman Missions for joint control of a Secondary school. It had therefore been decided that a Senior school, with pupils aged 16-20, should be maintained by the Govemment, and two Junior schools be supported by the Missions. Mr. Dougall believed however that a grave mistake had been made as regards the alleged unwillingness of Missions in Nyasaland to combine in supporting a joint school, and that there would be no opposition to such an undertaking from the Missions at home. He believed that the Sub-Committee had been under a misapprehension as to the difficulties. The Governor had accordingly been asked for a definite assurance that the proposals for a joint school had been con- sidered by the non-Roman Missions in Nyasaland but not approved by them. In reply he had received the following wire:-
Please see paragraph 5 and paragraph 6 of the enclosure of your despatch of the 27th October, 1937, No. 439. In August this year non-Roman Catholic missions re-affirmed that they are not able to form any legal federation which would satisfy the requirements of the Government in providing governing bodies for schools. Lacey concurs.
This seemed to make the position clear.
MISS GIBSON stated that the Governor's telegram made the matter rather obscure, but that letters received from Missions in Nyasaland indicated that the Missions had been told that the joint scheme proposed was unacceptable to the Government, and that they had heard no more about it. For that reason they had agreed to the proposed scheme. She knew of no reason why the Missions could not come together. The Mission Boards at home were prepared to consider a joint scheme. In view of what the Governor had said it was difficult to understand the position.
MR. SCOTT said he assumed such a joint-school would be somewhat on the lines of the Alliance High School at Kikuyu, in Kenya. He considered it should have been feasible for the Missions to have co-operated in Nyasaland. Difficulties had been overcome in Kenya. But the number and variety of Missions in Nyasaland might be an obstacle.
LORD DUFFERIN said it might be a question of personalities in Nyasaland.
MISS GIBSON remarked that letters supporting the proposal had been received from the Livingstonia Mission, which was the Mission most seriously concerned. The Mission was a long distance from Zomba which might explain the discrepancy.
Ecclesiastical differences might be greater in Nyasaland than in Kenya. Co-opera- tion was not entirely impossible, as the Universities Mission were prepared to negotiate. MR. MAYHEW suggested that the scheme which the Committee had before them should be examined on the assumption that joint control was impossible, making it clear that if it was found later that joint control was possible, the scheme might be modified.
MR. SCOTT considered the scheme had been modified by the last despatch. The fact that there were going to be two junior Secondary schools established at once indicated that the action of the Government would be delayed in establishing a Secondary school for post juniors.
MR. SCOTT remarked that it seemed to remove the Government's proposal from the sphere of action. It might give the Missions time to continue with the junior schools and combine them into one.
MR. MAYHEW stated that the lines laid down for the Secondary school were the same as those which had been considered by the Committee and the Sub-Committee.
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If the Committee could give general approval of the type of Secondary education proposed it would enable a start to be made with the work.
It was pointed out that many Secondary schools gave, in addition to a commercial course, and a course for those who might be going to do agricultural work, etc., a course useful for future teachers; if such a course had not already been considered it required
attention.
PROFESSOR MACKINNON said too much emphasis was laid on provision for cheap clerical labour.
MR. MAYHEW replied that the Sub-Committee had drawn attention to this. They had considered Africans had a right to Secondary Education for its own sake and not merely from the economic point of view. He believed Mr. Lacey's notes bore testimony to that if the Governor's despatch did not.
MR. SCOTT remarked that in establishing training classes at Secondary schools a serious difficulty was often experienced in providing proper teaching practice for the students. This had been the case with the Alliance High school. He believed this difficulty could be overcome. The Committee might express a hope that when the students had done their two years' Secondary work some at least would be trained at that stage for a slightly better type of teacher for Primary schools.
MR. MAYHEW said very valuable work on those lines was being done at Achimota. The Jeanes training centre in Nyasaland also trained teachers. The Sub-Committee had drawn attention to the excessive length at present of the Nyasaland course. They had been told it would be difficult to bring pupils into the Secondary course at 14 or 15 years of age, and that sometimes they would not complete their Secondary education until 21. The Sub-Committee had asked whether the preparatory classes could not be attached to the Secondary school in order to shorten this stage.
MR. SCOTT remarked that too much attention was apt to be paid to the age of admission. With African education so young people sometimes started their Secondary education at 19 or 20. As the Primary schools improved, so the age of entry at the Secondary school was lowered. Pupils often did not attend Primary schools until the age of 10 or 11.
School attendance was very irregular and this could not be avoided. He could not find any figures as to the number of pupils who had been admitted to the Secondary course. He was not satisfied that there was a sufficient demand to fill satisfactorily one Secondary course, and now it was proposed to start two Secondary courses.
DR. FIRTH referred to Secondary education for boys and the large sum of money that was being spent on agricultural administration under a trained African personnel. In some areas in Nyasaland agriculture was primarily in the hands of the women, and women of rank took a leading part. If a man controlled agriculture it did not appear to the native women as being his sphere. Perhaps, however, technical instruction was given at a primary stage. There was no recognition of this in the papers under discussion.
MR. SCOTT said he did not know what the social arrangements were in Nyasaland. Throughout East Africa generally, the large bulk of agriculture was done by the women; none the less, the supervision and the organization was undertaken by the men. Agriculture might be taught in the course of general Secondary education. He wondered if Secondary education of the girls had been considered in any stage. There was no reference to it in the papers.
DR. ESDAILE stated that when the Commission on Higher Education in Uganda had received evidence from various territories they had been told there was no Secon- dary education for women, but that the girls at the schools had a certain amount of elementary agricultural training. The Commission had found difficulty in ascertaining the number of boys who would wish to undertake Secondary education.
The Committee approved the proposals contained in the despatch subject to further local consideration of the points mentioned in the foregoing discussion.
10. Education Policy in Somaliland. (A.C.E.C. 35, 35A, 35B (38).—Lord DuFFERIN said the main question was whether written Somali should be a compulsory subject or not. There was a great deal of opposition to the teaching of written Somali and the Governor was of the opinion that this opposition would grow. He had therefore suggested postponement of the introduction of written Somali. The Secretary of State had not agreed to this but had already given instructions that written Somali should be an optional subject and Arabic the main instrument of instruction, both written and verbal.
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