685948-1879-Education-Annual-Report- — Page 7

163

卽小子挨次而讀間或讀至一節是

將該删除禁止不讀越之而讀下章如是瀏

THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 2ND APRIL,1879.

the moment a chapter is reached containing any

Bible story or where the concluding sentence of the chapter supplies a moral with the slightest

reference to anything specifically Christian, that chapter or that concluding paragraph is at once ta- booed and the next following chapter taken, is most unfortunate, as it impresses the boys, in the strongest possible manner, with the notion that Christianity itself is discountenanced in the Central

School. On the other hand, Chinese reading

books used in the Central School are replete with arguments and exhortations in favour of ances-

tral worship, contain a good deal of Buddhist

and Tauist teaching, are even, as in the case of Mencius, calculated to foster a decidedly anti-

foreign spirit, yet these passages are not skipped.

On the contrary, the Chinese masters told me that

they, in oral explanation, endeavour to bring

home this kind of teaching to the hearts and minds of their pupils. Nor can the masters be

blamed for doing so, as they conscientiously

believe in such doctrines themselves. To counter- act the manifest unfairness of this state of things, there were some years ago Chinese school-books prepared by a Government School-book Com- mittec, supplying the rudiments of secular know- ledge, of which these Chinese class books above mentioned are devoid, and giving also the ele- ments of Christian religious teaching. But these Government school-books are not taught by the Chinese masters in the Central School.

The cost of the Central School will be found detailed in Table IV. It will be seen from that table that the total of expenditure for the Cen- tral School was $11,865.58.tw against $9,945.87 in 1877, showing an increase of $1,919.71. In

explanation of this apparent excess I have to state that on account of the Head Master's.ab- sence on leave, on half salary, an extra vote was

necessary for half of the salary of the present Acting Second Master ($630), and that the Act- ing Third Master, being incapacitated for duty

through an affection of the eyes, was on furlough

on full salary for 6 months, during which time his place was filled by special assistance obtained at a cost of $900. There were some further extra expenses incurred in connection with the training school for three young men attached to

the staff of the Central School during the second

half of the year, two of whom are now employed as teachers of English in outside schools.

6. The Government schools outside the Cen- tral School do not give much occasion for remark. The Aberdeen school had to be closed in the middle of the year owing to the incompetency and neglect of the master, in consequence of which the villagers preferred to send their children to the three other schools in the village, or to Stanley, or to Canton to school and to pay there for their education rather than having them gratui.ously under the charge of a master who did not attend to his duties properly. But although thus the only outside school in which in, former years English had been taught was closed, there were, as I remarked above, three other schools provided with English teaching, viz. :--Wong-Lai-ch'ung,

書院華人教師一向置之不用以教學童

位英

歲之

患俸

增入合著一書書成日初學階梯付 已印刷矣而是書在大 未嘗有過因他自亦以此爲是也爲此不平之爭數年前國家特立委 句在大書院亦未嘗禁此致教師講解時發透該章節之意而亦 告 員將天地格致淺易之道卽華人書籍所未有者及耶穌教淺易之道

故需另請教師以補其缺支俸金元百大元 解館矣義學教英文者向只此 位在義學教習英文矣 英俊三人入院練習掌教之法現今會有二

歲患眼疾國家恩准予假六個月給足修俸 之俸金六百三十大元叉因第三位教師去 受其俸金一半,第二位教師 其除另有時用之項因去歲秋冬之間曾網 間雖已中歲解舘而照上所言 卽黃坭涌 江西營盤三義學 又已開多教英文之義學三間

予元

教

師耄

俸去師

省城户

不守本分之師故該義學中歲

▲而使子弟從遊

書院乃禁止耶穌道理者惟在大書院所用教華文

記者及屬釋道二教者而孟子書内,激動人心視異邦人爲什