667549-1886-Educational-Annual-Report-1885- — Page 2

552 SUPPLEMENT TO THE HONGKONG GOVT GAZETTE OF 19TH JUNE, 1886.

in support of religious teaching. At the same time it is evident that the educational policy of Government, whilst abstaining from all interference with religious teaching, has, during the last years, practically had the effect of encouraging distinctly religious education. The gradual cha which the proportion of Government Schools and Mission Schools underwent, since the introduct of the Grant-in-Aid Scheme, sufficiently proves this statement. In the year 1873, when the Gra in-Aid Scheme came into operation, there were under Governinent supervision 30 Government. Scho and 6 Mission Schools. In the year 1880, there were 36 Government Schools and 27 Mission Scho and in the year 1885 we had 35 Government Schools with an enrolment of 1,792 scholars and Mission Schools with 4,041 scholars under Government supervision. As this remarkable growt! Christian Mission Schools is principally due to the grants annually given by the Government on t equitable basis of "payment for definite results in definite (not specifically religious) subjects," wh at the same time the Chinese and other non-Christian taxpayers had a fairly sufficient number of n Christian Schools provided for their special purposes, justice has been done to the various conflict educational interests represented by the heterogeneous mass of taxpayers in the Colony.

5. The expenses incurred by the Government in connection with the above mentioned 5, children, enrolled, during the year 1885, in 90 Schools under Government inspection, amour altogether to $36,092 03 or $6.18 per head. These expenses were distributed as follows. Government Central School, with 596 scholars, cost the Government. $12,885.00, or $21.61 per ho The Government Schools, outside the Central School, with 790 scholars, cost the Governm $3,570.80 or $4.52 per head. The Aided Government Schools (in the villages), with 406 schol: cost the Government $1,737.68, or $2.58 per head. The Grant-in-Aid Schools (denominatio Mission Schools), with 4,041 scholars, cost the Government $14,593.39, or $3.61 per head.

6. The proportion of boys to girls enrolled in Schools under Government supervision contin to improve year by year, the progress thus made being entirely due to the satisfactory working of Grant-in-Aid system and the efforts made by the several Missionary Societies. In 1873, when Grant-in-Aid system first came into operation, the proportion of girls to boys enrolled in Schools un the supervision of the Government, was as 1 to 6; in the year 1880, it stood at 1 to 4; and in the y 1885 (as in the preceding year) it was as 1 to 3. As the last census, taken in 1881, showed bi slight excess of the number of boys, as compared with the number of girls, resident in Hongko there is evidently yet much room for further extention of female education in the Colony. Th were, in the year 1885, altogether 30 Girls Schools at work under the supervision of the Governme Of these 30 Schools, as many as 12 are under the management of the London Mission; 6 are un the management of the Female Education Society (Baxter Vernacular Schools); 5 are Roman Cath Schools; 3 are Mission Schools of the Church of England, and the remainder consists of 1 B: Mission School, 1 Berlin Mission School, 1 Wesleyan Methodist School and 1 Government Sche The majority of these Girls Schools, as many as 22, are purely Chinese Schools, giving to Chin girls a Christian education in the Chinese language. One School attempted, by way of experiment. reach the half-caste Chinese girls in the Colony and offered to give them a Chinese education w English in addition, but the experiment proved a complete failure. There is, it seems, no apprecia demand among the purely. Chinese girls of the Colony for English teaching, and the half-caste Chin girls, who would like to learn English, are too few in number and too scattered to encourage sim attempts by means of Day-Schools. A Boarding-School might have better prospects. There : further, 2 Girls Schools giving, to Chinese children only, a European education in the Chin language. For Portuguese children there are 3 Schools, giving a European education in the Portugu language, and 2 Schools giving to European and Portuguese girls a European education in English language. There is but one small private School in the Colony where English Protest children can be educated. Mr. BELILIOS established, during the year 1885, a scheme calculated encourage the promoters of female education in the Colony, and most of the above mentioned G Schools competed at the end of the year for the medals and prizes provided by the Trustees of funds so generously given for this purpose by Mr. BELILIOS.

7. The results of the annual examinations of the Schools under the supervision of the Governm will be found detailed in the Tables appended to this Report, and, as far as the Government Ceni School is concerned, in the Report of its Headmaster, which will be found below. A few supplement: observations may, however, be of interest.

8. The system followed by me, in examining the various Classes of the Government Central Scho was virtually the same as that adopted in previous years, except that most of the papers set were propo by the Headmaster (for the purpose of determining the award of the annual prizes and scholarship: the School), and consequently the questions which the scholars had to answer at this examinat were of a more searching character, affording a test somewhat more severe, than I would have thou necessary. Nevertheless the result obtained was very good, as 95.38 per cent. passed, and it compa under the circumstances, quite favourably with the result (95.58 per cent.) obtained in the preced

year.

9. Details, as to the results of the English examination of the several Classes of the Cen School, will be found exhibited in the subjoined Tables.