660784-1888-Grant-in-Aid-Schools — Page 2

THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 17TH MARCH, 1888.

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2. It will be seen from the enclosed tables, that the sum total, nominally earned by 61 Schools under the conditions of the Grant-in-Aid Code and on the basis of the usual examinations, amounts to $16,843.16. But as the sum voted for Grants-in-Aid for 1888 (viz., $17,000) has already been drawn upon to the amount of $254.50, leaving only $16,745.50 available, the amount nominally required for Grants-in-Aid exceeds the balance in hand by $97.66.

3. In Despatch No. 211, of 30th September, 1882, the Secretary of State laid down the rule, "that the sum of money voted each year for Grants-in-Aid ought not under any circumstances be exceeded," and in Regulation No. 6 of the Grant-in-Aid Code (1883) it is provided that "the Government will not bind itself to give grants to all Schools claiming them under the foregoing con- ditions, but will be guided by the circumstances of each case and by the amount of money at its disposal for educational purposes. Moreover, a similar case occurred in 1883, when the amount nominally earned by the Grant-in-Aid Schools exceeded the sum then available by $1,793.07, where- upon all the grants were subjected to a reduction of 14.33 per cent. in order to bring the payment to be made within the limits of the amount then available for the purpose.

4. I propose therefore to subject the amounts nominally earned by the Grant-in-Aid Schools in the year 1887, to a reduction of one per cent., as shewn in the enclosed tables, whereby the amount to be paid by way of Grants-in-Aid is reduced from $16,843.16 to $16,674.72, and the expenditure. brought within the limits of the Estimates, leaving a small balance ($70.78) in hand.

5. The above mentioned amount nominally earned by the Grant-in-Aid Schools in the year 1887 is considerably in excess of the sum earned by this class of Schools in the preceding year.

In 1886, the sum total required for Grants-in-Aid amounted to $14,324.76, and now, in 1887, to $16,852.16, which is an increase of $2,527.40. This increase is to be accounted for as follows. The number of Schools under the Grant-in-Aid Code increased from 56 Schools in 1886, to 61 Schools in 1887. The number of scholars individually examined in these Schools increased from 2,068 in 1886 to 2,314 in 1887. That the examinations were about as strict as usual will be seen from the fact that there is but a trifling increase in the percentage of scholars passed, for in 1886, out of 2,068 scholars examined, 1,790 or 86.55 per cent. passed, whilst in 1887, out of 2,314 scholars examined, 2,033 passed, or 87.85 per cent. The increase in the expenditure now required for Grants-in-Aid is therefore prin- cipally to be accounted for by the natural increase which took place in 1887 in the number of Schools and scholars placed under the Grant-in-Aid scheme. There is, however, one extraordinary factor in the educational movement of 1887 which contributed to the sudden increase in the expenditure required for these educational grants, viz., the introduction in the Colony of the Cambridge Local Examinations which, by the stimulus they give to the study of the higher branches of an English education, caused a sudden increase in the number of Schools competing for grants allowed by the local Grant-in-Aid Code for the so-called special subjects. For many years past there was only one Grant-in-Aid School (the Diocesan Home and Orphanage) which annually took up the special subjects of Algebra, Euclid and Physical Geography. Thus, for instance, in 1886, out of 2,068 scholars examined in the ordinary subjects of the Code, only 13 scholars were presented for examination in those 3 special subjects. But in 1887, as many as 6 Schools took up the special subjects of the Code, such as Algebra, Euclid, Physical Geography, Astronomy (Findlater's Science Primer), and even Book-keeping (Turner's Commercial Guide and Hunter's Civil Service Examination Papers), and as many as 99 scholars were examined in these subjects in 1887, involving an expenditure, for grants for special subjects only, amounting to $611, as compared with $44 required for special subjects in 1886.

6. I now beg to recommend that the enclosed tabulated accounts be audited as usual by the Audit Office, and that, if the accounts are found correct, the proposed reduction of 1 per cent. be approved and, in that case, a warrant issued for the sum of $16,674.72 to be paid, as usual, by the Treasury on personal application to be made by the respective Managers, Teachers and Assistant-teachers of Grant- in-Aid Schools. I shall then supply the Treasury with the usual list of names and amounts due, corresponding with the detailed accounts herewith enclosed, and I shall also forward to each Manager, Teacher and Assistant-teacher concerned, the usual forms of receipt stating the amount due to each, which forms must be handed in at the Treasury on claiming payment. This form of procedure, first adopted in 1884, has hitherto worked satisfactorily.

7. The enclosed Tables exhibit in detail the mode in which each of the Grant-in-Aid Schools has earned its grant in 1887 and the amount payable to each Manager and Teacher under the proposed reduction of 1 per cent. Further particulars and general observations with regard to the working of the Grant-in-Aid Schools in 1887, I reserve for the usual Annual Report on Education.

I have the honour to be,

Sir,

Your most obedient and humble Servant,

The Honourable F. STEWART, LL.D.,

Colonial Secretary,

SC.,

&c.

E. J. EITEL, Ph. D.,

Inspector of Schools.