Sidebilder
PDF
ePub

AppendixD. I am unable to offer any general observations as to the proficiency of the Proficiency pupils examined during the past year.

of Pupils.

Mr.

District 57, Killarney; Mr. Macnamara.-Reading continued to Macnamara. exhibit the essential elements of facility and correctness to a satisfactory extent. The degree of intelligence characterizing it was in the main result also satisfactory, though of more varying quality. The explanation of the matter, and diction of the lessons is therefore well regarded by the teachers, though the amount of examination at inspections was necessarily not so abundant as in former years. The result system has given important impetus to the acquirement of spelling, and very even proficiency is now found in the classes.

Arithmetic. In arithmetic the evidence of careful following of the programme was ample at my examinations. Generally the pupils were up to its requirements. Though, as might be expected, failures were found, there were very few cases in which pupils showed no trace of practice in the rules prescribed.

Penmanship has much improved, particularly in the male schools. The Civil Service examinations, at which many young teachers contend, have raised the estimate formed of the importance of good writing. A style considered suitable for these examinations, and which is called "Civil Service writing," may be found in many copy-books though the head-lines indicate a different one. In most female schools angular handwriting has been abandoned, and the style in Vere Foster's copy-books is carefully followed. The action of the result fee examinations has produced a beneficial effect which is to be found particularly in the exercises of the junior classes.

Writing from Dictation. The proficiency is very fair.

Grammar.-The difficulty of this branch makes its study less successful than any other. Still it continues its career, and the senior class can parse fairly in most instances, and a fair number of these pupils answer with some success from the pages of Sullivan's text-book to the end of syntax.

Geography. The teachers seem to be giving instruction on the maps more systematically, and hence detail in local geography is more extensively acquired. Many teachers, at my suggestion, divide the maps into parts so soon as the leading outlines have been acquired, and cause the classes to attain a close knowledge of each of these parts. Hence, the business of teaching and learning is easier, and the amount of knowledge acquired far more ample.

Agricultural Class Book.-Progress in this useful book is very slow and scanty. In some schools it is read with fair intelligence.

Needlework.-Plain sewing is practised in all the schools very successfully. The senior learners also learn embroidery and some other ornamental branches. Cutting-out is not taught equally well. Want of material and want of time are the excuses of the teachers for this deficiency.

[blocks in formation]

District 58, Bantry; Mr. Macdonnell.-Reading (including oral spell- Appendix D. ing and explanation). In two convent schools the character of the Proficiency reading is excellent, and in a large proportion of the other schools the of Pupils. pupils read with a fair degree of fluency and verbal accuracy, but with

Mr.

out the clearness of expression and modulation of voice which charac- Macdonnell. terize good reading. In seven schools the character of the reading is barely passable. Oral spelling did not receive sufficient attention from the teachers during the year. I found a large number of failures in this subject in the first, second, and third classes. In the meaning of words and the subject-matter of the lessons, the proficiency, except in a few of the best schools, is in general low, and in the repetition of the poetry in the lesson-books there is room for very great improvement. On the subject of reading especially, I think the suggestion of Mr. Head Inspector Fitzgerald should be carried out, namely, that two rates of payment should be allowed.

The following table shows the per-centage of passes, in reading, to number of pupils examined in class:

:

[ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]

Arithmetic. On this subject I am able to report fair progress during the year. I found the junior classes better acquainted with the tables and simple rules, and the senior classes able to work the exercises on paper with more neatness and accuracy than at any previous inspection. I believe the subject is better taught than it was ever taught before, but notwithstanding, there were numerous failures, and especially among the females in fourth, fifth, and sixth classes. I think the standard in arithmetic for females in the advanced classes is too high.

Mental arithmetic is well taught in about a dozen of the best schools, but in general it does not receive sufficient attention.

The following are the per-centages of passes in arithmetic to numbers examined:

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

The corresponding per-centages for all the National schools in Ireland, as returned in the report of the Commissioners, for the year 1872,

[merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

Penmanship. This subject continues to be well taught in the schools of the district, and the degree of proficiency attained is in general good, and in many cases respectable. The copy-books show careful supervision on the part of the teachers, and care and pains on the part of the pupils. In some cases, however, I had to complain of the absence of names and dates at the foot of the copy-books.

The following are the per-centages of passes in writing to numbers examined :

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small]

Appendix D.

Proficiency of Pupils.

The corresponding per-centages for all the National schools in Ireland, as given in the Commissioners' report for the year 1872, are:—

[merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors]
[merged small][ocr errors]

II.,

[merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors]

III.,

[blocks in formation]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

94.5

89.5

87.6

Writing from Dictation is practised daily on paper in almost every school in the district, and a very fair degree of proficiency has been attained. In the higher classes I was able to give full marks in almost every case, but in the lower classes I had a good many failures.

The following are the per-centages of passes in spelling and dictation to numbers examined ::

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

The corresponding per-centages for all the schools of Ireland as given in the Commissioners' report for 1872, are:—

[merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

Grammar receives a due share of attention in a large proportion of the schools, but in general the character of the instruction imparted is too technical, and does not bear sufficiently on the structure of the language and correct speaking. In almost every school I meet with pupils having a fair knowledge of grammar and parsing, but who speak most incorrectly.

Per-centages of passes to numbers examined :

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]

The corresponding per-centages for all the National schools of Ireland, for 1872, are :—

[blocks in formation]

Grammar was added to the programme of third class only in May last, and hence the low proficiency in this class.

[ocr errors]

Geography. The proficiency in geography is lower than in any other subject of examination. In many cases the classes had not been prepared on the precise subjects laid down in the school programine, and in consequence the failures were numerous.

Per-centages of passes to numbers examined :

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]

The corresponding per-centages for all the schools under the Board for the year 1872, are:

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]

Agricultural Class Book.-Agriculture was added to the school programme as one of the paying subjects only in May last, and as the examinations commenced in June, the teachers had not time to have classes prepared in this subject. Towards the end of the year, however, in 12 schools 39 pupils passed satisfactorily in agriculture, and earned

results fees for their teachers. Instruction in agriculture would be of Appendix D. the greatest possible benefit to the people of this district, and I should Proficiency like to see it enforced in every country school.

Needlework. The number of girls who passed satisfactorily in needlework in 68 schools, and earned results fees for their teachers, were :—

of Pupils.

Mr.

Macdonnell.

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]

On this subject I would suggest that a note should be added to the school programme to the effect that every girl learning needlework should have a neat work-bag, containing needles, thimble, scissors, and specimens of work executed during the year for the examination of the Inspector.

[blocks in formation]

District 59, Dunmanway; Mr. Seymour.-Reading (including oral spelling and explanation). Improving in the junior, but not perceptibly in the senior classes. The average proficiency is moderate, but, considering the importance and breadth of the subject, reading and its collateral branches are still less effectively taught than any other in the school programme.

Arithmetic. Greatly increased facility in working sums on paper, and hence a great improvement both in neatness and accuracy of work, as compared with the results attained in the previous year.

Penmanship.-Fair proficiency, owing to the more general practice of transcribing, and writing from dictation on paper. At the results examinations the transcribing exercises exhibited in most cases better writing than the copy-books of the same pupils.

Writing from Dictation. The written spelling at the examinations for results was in most instances good, the per-centage of misspelled words being very seldom so large as to oblige the examiner to refuse a pass in this subject.

Grammar.-Answering in this subject was only middling in third class (which nearly corresponds to the former second), but in the higher classes it was generally satisfactory.

Geography.-There were a large proportion of failures in this subject at the results examinations. Geography is well taught only in the best schools, while in those of inferior efficiency it is generally the subject most neglected.

Agricultural Class Book.-The amount of knowledge displayed by the pupils examined in agriculture last year was meagre and superficial. A large number were presented for results in this subject who had not been properly prepared. The very respectable fee offered for good answering in this important branch will, I think, lead to a more satisfactory result next year.

Needlework.-A considerable stimulus to the teachers' exertions in this department was given by the grant of a fee for results in second class during the past year. The pupils in this class are frequently very numerous, and might have been neglected but for this provision. The proficiency of the senior classes maintained a very fair level.

Mr. Seymour.

[blocks in formation]

Dr. Brown.

Very fair.
Middling.
Fair.
Middling.
Fair.

District 60, Cork; Dr. Brown.-Reading (including oral spelling and explanation). The following table exhibits the number examined and the number passed in each class in reading:

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

These numbers do not include Carrigrohane School, which was examined by the Head Inspector, nor the industrial pupils, of whom there were about 200 examined. In many schools the reading, though accurate and tolerably fluent, is monotonous, and wholly wanting in intelligence, and in several schools it is remarkably good. Among those deserving honourable notice for the singular success with which good reading has been cultivated I have much pleasure in mentioning Kinsale Female Convent School and Ballygarvan Female, and there are many others in which the style of reading is much above average. The proficiency appears to be lowest in first and second classes, but this may arise from the test which I applied in these classes-I did not pass any children who could not read a lesson both in the first and second halves of their reading book. I found this test necessary, as in several cases I met children who could read the latter half of their book fluently, but were quite unable to read the earlier and easier lessons.

The proficiency in oral spelling is much lower than in reading-in several schools it is very bad. The passes are but 70 per cent. of the number examined. Explanation is improved.

Arithmetic. The results of my examinations in arithmetic will be seen at a glance from the following table, showing the number examined in each class, and the number of passes :

:

Class.

[ocr errors]

Number examined, .
passed,

Per-centage of passes,

[ocr errors]

Total.

I.
II. III. IV. V. VI.
1,973 1,749 1,430 975 503 145 6,775
1,267 1,308 1,056 446 254 74 4,405
64.2 74-7 73.8 45.7 50-5 51. 65.

I do not consider the proficiency by any means satisfactory. The exercises which I gave to the several classes were fair tests of the requirements of the programme, and would have been readily performed by children possessing a competent knowledge of the rules, and yet in the classes above third the failures exceeded 50 per cent. I attribute this backwardness in arithmetic to a mistaken method of teaching the subject in its earliest stages. The multiplication table is the first which the children learn; afterwards the tables of money, weights, and measures; but the addition and subtraction tables, which lie at the very threshold of arithmetic, were never taught. Hence in first and second classes the children contracted the habit of counting on their fingers, and passed on to a higher class knowing merely mechanical arithmetic, and carrying

« ForrigeFortsett »