Sessional_Paper_1902 — Page 103

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Government in which "a European education" is said to be "given in a Euro- pean language." We venture, however, to think that the following considerations will show that our statement is not inaccurate :-

(a.) The schools in the Colony assisted by Government are 96 in number.

Of these, 70 schools are in Class I, "in which a Chinese education is given"; 3 schools are in Class II, in which "a European education is given in the Chinese language." The schools in these two classes are obviously not available for European children. The schools in Class III, "in which a European education is given in any European language," are 23 in number. But in the great majority of these schools the masters are Chinese only; and these Chinese masters are not only incompetent to give a European education to European children, but also habitually use their own language as the medium of instruction in explaining the English books, which they teach, to their pupils. Such schools are. therefore, also not available for Europeans. There are only two Grant-in-aid Schools in Class III which have English teachers, and are open to Europeans. In addition to the schools in these three Classes, there are the Queen's College and the Belilios Public School maintained by the Government, in which there are English teachers; and also eleven schools maintained by the Government, in which there are only Chinese teachers. Thus of a total of 109 schools there are only 4 available for English children.

(b.) We consider that even in those four schools in which there are English teachers. European boys cannot secure a proper education. Educa- tion should include both the acquirement of knowledge, and also the formation of character. In both these respects we consider that the education of the European children suffers very much from the fact that Europeans and Asiatics are mixed, and the European child has to be educated side by side in the same class with large num- bers of Asiatics.

As regards the acquirement of knowledge, this mixture of races operates very injuriously upon the European. The Chinese come to these schools to learn English, not to acquire general knowledge. In his report for 1866, Mr. STEWART, who was the Headmaster at the Central School and Inspector of the Government Schools, wrote: "Nothing seems to find favour with the Chinese which does not bear a market value. Hence the comparative success of the Central School, English being convertible into dollars."(') The following year "the Principal of of St. Saviour's College dwelled especially on proving the difficulties one meets here in educating Chinese. They don't study for the sake of acquiring know- ledge, but for the sake of dollars and to enable them to earn money, and the Very Rev. Father anticipated that with very few exceptions we would never succeed in having Chinese conversant with our Sciences, but we must content ourselves with forming clerks and compradores."(2) In his Report for 1899, the late Inspector of Schools explains the more regular attendance at the schools in which English is taught, as compared with the Chinese schools, by the fact that "the education given is a special one having a distinct money value." We do not wish to call in question the wisdom of the Chinese in this matter; but we would point out that in a school in which the majority of boys are Chinese, who come to learn English and not for the sake of acquiring knowledge, the European boy, who comes to acquire knowledge and not to learn English, must be at a very serious disadvantage. That the Chinese boys often do better than

(1) See "Dates and Events connected with the History of Education in Hongkong," p. 13. (2) Ibid. p. 21.