Sessional_Paper_1902 — Page 479

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GIRLS OF CHINESE PARENTAGE.

ANGLO-CHINESE GIRL SCHOOLS.

32. There is no present need for the creation of Anglo-Chinese Schools for girls. The High School for Girls will satisfy any existing demand for a more advanced education in English. (Sections 63-65 and Appendix A.)

It must not be forgotten that the large attendance at Queen's College and the other Anglo-Chinese Boy Schools is due to a desire to acquire English for business purposes. This stimulus is absent in the case of girls.

VERNACULAR GIRL SCHOOLS,

33. They should be conducted on the same general lines as the Vernacular Schools for boys. At the same time it is a matter of some delicacy to impose stringent conditions upon the education of girls whose parents regard that education as somewhat of an extravagance, and who might be easily inclined to withdraw their daughters from school. The following passage from a recent Report by the Inspector of Schools commends itself to the judgment of the Committee:-

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"To find themselves amenable to education must be an invalu- "able lesson to the Chinese girls and a wholesome one to their 'parents and brothers, so that whether that which they learn is worth "learning or not, it is a distinct advantage that they and their "men-folk are alike convinced of their capacity for intellectual "exercise. The self-approbation of your male Chinese requires no "such stimulus."

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The time is ripe to put increased pressure on the schoolboys; but in the case of the schoolgirls it can hardly be said to be so. It is therefore necessary for the time being to make distinctions in the treatment of the two classes of children.

PORTUGUESE AND EURASIAN GIRLS.

34: These classes are provided for by the Roman Catholic Convents on the one hand, and the Diocesan School for Girls and the Belilios Public School on the other. The last-named is attended by a considerable number of Chinese, but the restriction upon the admission of Chinese, which is recommended in English Boy Schools, is at present unncessary.

PART III.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF EXISTING SCHOOLS.

35. In the First Part of the Report a description has been given of the various systems of schools under Government control, and incidentally some of their weak points have been exposed. In the Second Part the different classes of children in the Colony have been enumerated; enquiry has been made how far their wants are at present supplied; and the general lines have been indicated on which further improvements should be effected.

In the Third Part the existing schools are considered in detail in the light of the principles determined in Part II; and where they are found wanting, definite suggestions are made to remedy their shortcomings.

QUEEN'S COLLEGE.

36. It is recommended that Queen's College revert to the purpose for which it was originally intended, and supply an education to Chinese only.

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