March 10, 1902.]
course of study prescribed for the profession which might have been selected for them by their parents.
7. The best interests of the family demand also that the liberal education of Chinese boys should be accompanied by a commensurate ad- vance in the education of Chinese girls, and it is for this reason that the scheme which we now beg to submit to His Excellency's most favourable consideration makes equal provision for girls.
8. The expense entailed upon the Government by the adoption of the scheme may at first sight appear great, but we do not consider that it will be in any way out of proportion to the results which are to be looked for. It is at pre sent a constant complaint that, having received an education in the Government Schools, the Chinese have failed to ussimilate to any ex- tent English sympathies and ideas, and are ever backward in responding to the call of public duties. But we are confident that thorough education on the lines which we now suggest will soon remove all cause for such complaint. Such an education will not only endow our young men and women with more open minds and greater public spirit, but will result in the more cordial co-operation of the British and Chinese nations and closer inter- course between them.
9. It is well said that "large outlay on education is, if wisely directed, far from being necessarily open to the charge of extravagance. On the contrary, an excellent system of public education is one of the best forms of national investment. In commercial and industrial efficiency, in a higher level of civic duty, and above all, in the wider diffusion of moral culture and religions feeling, the nation is amply repaid for what it spends,”
10. We beg to subjoin a scheme which roughly represents our proposals. Should His Excellency deem them worthy of consideration, we shall be happy to discuss them more fully in a personal interview at any time that His Excellency may desire.
The petition is signed by Messrs. Ho Kai, Wei Aynk, Fung Wa Chan, Chan Tang Shang, Uon Lai Chun, Lo Kun Teng, S. W. Tsq, and Wei On.
BELILIOS PUBLIC SCHOOL FOR GIRLS.
The annual distribution of prizes to the girls of this school Yock place on the 5th inst. A large company of ladies and gentlemen, including the Hon. J. H. and Mrs. Stewart Lockhart, assembled to witness the ceremony and its attendant functions, which consisted of songs and musical drill by the girls. The grand march for the latter exhibition, which revealed a high degree of perfection on the part of those girls who went through the various exercises, including dumb-bell swinging, was specially written by Mr. A. G. Ward. Mrs. Bateman, headmistress, presided at the piano.
Mr. E. A. IVING, Inspector of Schools, read the report for the past year, which was as follows:-The total numbers on the Register in the English Division for the past year are 274. During the month of May, June and July, the attendances were seriously affected by the plague, which has caused a lower average than usual. Our staff has been greatly strengthened by the appointment of another English teacher. This, with the addition of a qualified junior assistant, has tended greatly to facilitate the teaching in the upper classes. Miss Bateman has entire charge of the Junior Department, which has enabled Mrs. Tutcher to take the III and IV Classes in the Upper School, and there- by render the most valuable help. Miss Chunyat takes the V and VI Classes. Miss Vanstone is the pupil-teacher for the infants. In September, the fees were raised from 50 cents to $1.50 per mensem, but in order to meet the cases of those having more than one obild attending the School a sliding scale was arranged $1.50 for the first child, $1 for the second and 50 cents for the third. Boys still form a very lage section of the Junior Divison. The Government has not yet arranged to form a special preparatory class for boys, but I am still hoping it will be an accomplished fact in the near future. Our School was examined on the 13th and 14th of January by Mr. Irving, H.M. Inspector
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could be done was to instil in them a certain taste for learning. That, Mr. Irving took it, should
aim of be the object and
a whole- the Education Department as to put a desire for learning into the minds of the girls and boys, and that was what they in- tended to do. In the upper class the girls were spending a good deal of time, he believed, in reading English literature, poetry, books of travel, and the columns of the daily news- papers, and this they were doing, not with the intention of going up for examination or proving to a hostile examiner that they had done good work during the year, but simply to improve their minds. The position of an examiner had been very much exaggerated. In most cases, if they had a good school- master, or a good schoolmistress the duties of an examiner should be very light indeed To his mind, it was a mistaken idea to make the girls think that all they had to do was to so arrange their studies in order to prove to a gentleman who came once a year to examine them that they knew something. What was wanted was to advance their thoughts, and this could be done by the reading of interesting and useful matter, quite irrespective of examination "As I say," rules and subjects, and so on. concluded Mr. Irving, "I am entirely new to the Colony, and you ladies and gentlemen know better than I do the good work that is You have seen and heard being done here. the girls at their musical drill and singing, and I think it reflects the greatest credit on the whole of the staff to have brought the girls to the state of perfection you now see them in." (Applause).
Mrs. Stewart Lockhart then distributed the prizes, the list of which is as follows:-
ENGLISH DIVISION,
1st Class: Distinction, Lily Song, Girl' a Own Annual 2nd, Alice Lesbirel, Shake- spare; 3rd, Nellie Olson, Scott; History, Myra Chunyut, book; Composition, Sarah Lee, Tennyson; Geography, Maggie Petersen, book; Needlework, Alice Lesbirel, box.
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT. of Schools, for the report of which I beg to refer you to the Examiner's report, which I trust you will find satisfactory. The Government has graciously granted five free scholarships to this School to the held for one year. Those entitled to the honour this year are-Elsie Mow Hung, Elia Hyndman, Chan Ying Mui, May Kui, and Mabel Song.
Continuing, Mr. IRVING said this had been his first year as Inspector of Schools for Hong- kong, and during that period he had kept the Belilios Public School for Girls very constantly in his mind. It was with pleasure that he could say the school was, on the whole, in a very satisfactory condition. Although it was not right to make comparisons, he might remark that so far as the staff, at least, was concerned, it would certainly compare with those of the other schools in the Colony. But the staff was not everything: they must have girls, and in that respect the school was perhaps not quite so strong as one would like to see it, for it was most desirable that it should increase in numbers, as it had increased in efficiency. That brought him to the question of fees, which, as Mrs. Bateman remarked in her report, had been raised from 50 cents to 81.50 at the beginning of last term Personally, said Mr. Irving, he had had nothing to do with that increase; the gentleman reponsible was Mr. Brewin, the late Inspector of Schools, and of all the wise and useful things Mr. Brewin had done on behalf of the Belilios Public School, that was one of the wisest and most useful. There was no doubt that for some time past the school had been run on lines of what must be called over-economy,, false economy, and the alternative which presented itself to the Gor- ernment was either to increase the fees for each scholar or reduco the staff. In these circum- stances Mr. Brewin advised the Government to increase the fees, and that he was right in so doing Mr. Irving felt sure all would agree. Unfortunately, however, it had a very adverse effect on the attendance, a number of parents declining to pay the higher fee and withdraw.
2nd Class: 1st Diligence, Elsie Mow-fung, ing their daughters from the school. If any of those parents were present it was possible that gold brooch; 2nd. Florence Lambert, silver Ada Asgar, silver hat-pins; they might reconsider their decision, for they bangle; 3rd would see that they got really good value for Arithmetic, Fatima Alarakia, fountain pen; their money. The staff, too, had been streng-Needlework, Florence Lambert, box.
3rd Class:1st Diligence, Elia Hyndman, thened by the addition to its members of Miss Chunyut and Miss Bateman, and the children silver bangle 2nd, Martha Petersen, silver silver were having every possible care and attention button-hook; 3rd, Mary Petersen, lavished upon them. One class was now having brooch; Arithmetic, Ida Noma, silver pen- lessons in drawing, and surely no one could holder; Needlework, Amy Mab, box. expect to produce Gainsboroughs and Rosa 4th Class: 1st Diligence, Annie Lesbirel, Bonheurs on less than $1.50 a month-five cents book; 2nd, Doris Chunyut, book; 3rd, Lizzie a day, that meant, and one cent an hour. Vanstone, book; Needlework, Esther Noms, (Laughter.) Really, repeated Mr. Irving, they box. appeared to be getting very good value indeed for their money, and he was certain all those But the present would concur in that view. number of scholars must be increased, and he hoped that everyone would do their best not only to send their own children to the school, but to persuade others to do the same. There was room for another hundred girls, and it would be very gratifying indeed if they could manage to get two hundred girls on the roll. There was only one other point he wished to touch upon, continued the speaker. and that was the subject of the Oxford local examination. He felt that he had some sort of explanation to-make on that score, because the other week he found all the senior girls studying for the Oxford "local," and he remarked that he thought it was a pity; on coming again two or three days afterwards he found they had thrown it up. Although it was regretable that one's words should be taken so literally, Mr. Irving went on, he was bound to say that he did not think the Oxford local" was altogether suited to the requirements of the Colony. In his opinion it was an examination the value of which was somewhat over-estimated in Hongkong. In fact, he once met a boy-a Chinese boy, it was true- who seemed to consider that to pass in the Ox- ford "local" was the same as being an Oxford boy; that, of course, was like saying that a boy in an Eton jacket was the same as an Eton boy. The
and " examination meant "cramming." ming," of course, was an uninteresting occupa- tiou, and only led to a distaste for work. The children came to school, as a rule, only for a very few years of their lives, and it was quite impossible to give them a really first-class education in that time. The very most that
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cram-
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5th Class-1st Diligence, Chun Ying-mui, book; 2nd, Marian Alarakia, book; 3rd, Rachel Leri, book; Needlework, Chun Ying- mui, box.
6th Class :-1st Diligence, Winifred Mengens, ink-bottle; 2nd, Diligence, Irene Coleman, book; 3rd, Dili rence, Mozelle Levi, silver brooch; Needlework, Dorothy Lambert, box.
7th Class-1st Diligence, Mabel Long, book; 2nd, Diligence, May Rice, scissors, &c.; 3rd, Diligence, Ab Man Goosman, box of paints; Writing, Malcolm McNeill book; Needlework, Mollie Mooney, box.
8th Class-Highest Marks, Edward Stain- field, book; 2nd, Sui Fong, scent-box.
Infants-1st, Mivo Nomura, bracelets; 2nd, Jessie McNeill, book; 3rd, William Chung, book; Needlework, Lily Stainfield, box.
Recitation-1st, Dorothy Lambert, silver brooch; 2nd Irene Coleman, silver brooch: 3rd, Mabel Long, silver brooch ; 4th, Mollie Mooney, sliver brooch
Attendance Certificates:-1st Class, Fatima Alarakia; 3rd Ida Noma; 4th Class, Esther Noma; 5th Class Marian Alarakia; 6th Class, Chun Ying Mini; 7th Class, Ah Yik; 8th Class, Clara Lee.
CHINESE DIVISION.
Standard -1st Ip Ngok Shing, Chinese ink- bottle; 2nd Shek Kran, socks and buttons; 3rd, Chan-ha, socks.
Standard II-1st, In Fung Kuk, note-book and buttons; 2nd Ho Mai handkerchiefs and buttons; 3rd, Fung Fan Shin, handker- chiefs.
Standard III-1st, Leung Kan, pocket toi- let glass, &c; 2nd, Wong Sui Mui, hankerchiefs and buttons; 3rd, Chan Chi, handkerchiefs.
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