Sessional_Paper_1932 — Page 66

Sessional Papers 議政定例兩局文件 All

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tion should have only one Inspector of English Schools; and, in place of the second Inspector, an officer, either a junior Cadet officer or a specially selected member of the Senior Clerical and Accounting staff, as secretary. The Director of Education would thus be relieved of a great amount of clerical work which now devolves upon him, and would therefore have more time to devote to matters of educational policy and to acquiring a more thorough knowledge of all those schools, both English and Vernacular, which come within his jurisdiction.

7. The Commissioners would further suggest that when the finances of the Colony permit, and in accordance with the custom in England, a woman Inspector of Schools might prove a valuable acquisition.

INSPECTORS OF VERNACULAR SCHOOLS.

8. Though the Commissioners hesitate to criticize salaries they feel very strongly that the Inspectors of Vernacular Schools and the Head Teacher of the Vernacular Middle School should not have been allotted sterling salaries. Elsewhere in this Report the Commissioners have put forward their proposals concerning the future of the Vernacular Middle School; but in regard to the above-mentioned officers they would urge the Government that, as the opportunity occurs, steps should be taken to remedy this matter of sterling salaries.

FEES AT GOVERNMENT SECONDARY SCHOOLS.

9. It is the considered opinion of the Commissioners that too much is done for secondary education and too little for primary. The former could be curtailed with- out any detriment to the Colony. The method in which this should be done is by raising the fees at Government secondary schools. At present the fees bear no relation to the cost of providing the education. These should be raised until the gap between the two is appreciably reduced. In order to do this it will first be necessary to price-cost the department and the schools. Encouragement should be given to intelligent boys and girls, whose further education will benefit the community, by the provision of a number of free scholarships.

GRANT IN AID SCHOOLS.

10. The basis on which grants are paid should be rationalized. Under the present system those non-Government schools known as Grant in Aid Schools (English,) almost all of which are denominational, receive a Science Grant, a University Examination Grant, and a Capitation Grant. The Capitation Grant is calculated on the average yearly attendance, and is based on a graduated scale, namely $50 per pupil in the Higher classes, $30 per pupil in the Remove classes, and $20 per pupil in the Lower Classes. This differentiation according to the class of the pupil naturally encourage schools to place as many boys as possible in the higher classes, not always with proper regard to their scholastic ability. The Commissioners do not consider the amounts of the grants allowed to these schools excessive. The Grant in Aid Schools do very satisfactory work in the Colony, and according to the Report of the Director of Education for 1929 nearly five thousand pupils were that year being given instruction therein. In view of the fact that they are cheaper to run than those schools entirely maintained by the Government, the suggestion has been made to the Commissioners that the Government should increase its financial assistance to these schools rather than develop its own schools. The need of the present is for curtailment of expenditure; but although the Commissioners con- sider that, when the Colony's finances improve, the Grant in Aid Schools should receive increased financial aid to permit of further development, they maintain that the Govern- ment should retain its own schools, and should endeavour to make them models by which the standard of non-Government schools should be judged. It can readily be understood that the difference in expenditure between Government and Grant in Aid Schools is largely accounted for by the differences in the method of recruitment of staff and the conditions of service. In place however of the existing graduated Capitation Grant it is recommneded that a flat rate of $30 per head be paid. To continue payment of larger grants, in respect of the senior classes, would be to place non-Government secondary schools in an unduly favourable position, vis à vis the corresponding Govern- ment schools with their greatly increased fees.

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