II. Madras. I could not get them to answer the simplest questions. Even the story of Alfred is not known. The most definite information I could obtain was, that "William was the first Danish King of England!" The Master had previously elicited the fact, that he was a Scotchman! It was to excuse their ignorance of these few pages that the head master declared they could not read. Arithmetic. The master told me that they were doing Rule of Three; but his questions were merely multiplication stated as questions of proportion (if one cost 107., &c.). The master's son worked correctly the sum given to him, and a question of real proportion, and one of the others got through the master's question, but he was so long about it, having altered his statement many times, that I could not wait for him. The fourth boy had a question in Reduction in which he failed. 5. This being the state of the first class, I thought it unnecessary to spend much time about the lower classes. But they appeared to be in a very unsatisfactory state, studying much at random. The same class comprises boys who are in different rules in arithmetic, and boys who do none at all. Some few who can read a little, read that little fairly; but others read badly; and they generally spell badly. The Second Class boys wholly failed in Multiplication. Some of the East Indians write fairly. GIRLS' SCHOOL. 6. Mistress-Mrs. Jackson, assisted by her daughter, a woman in the first class. The following is the scheme of studies :- Class. Girls. Spelling. Reading. Writing. Grammar. Geography. History. Arithmetic. 7. Geography, Europe.-Wrong on almost every question asked. History, England.-They are supposed to have read the whole of the "Outlines." "Julius Cæsar invaded Scotland, the north part of Great Britain; conquered as much of it as he wanted, and settled down there." How long the Romans remained in the country they do not know. Only one girl (the daughter of the head master and mistress) knows who were the next invaders. She does not know the story of Alfred, or about the Danes. The only Danish king she has heard of was Edgar. Only one girl knows anything at all about William the Conqueror, and she does not know who he was or whence he came. The same girl is the only one who knows anything about the Crusades, and she knows very little. Arithmetic. The same girl worked correctly questions in Reduction and Square Root. One girl worked Multiplication correctly, and one girl Simple Division. CLASS II. 8. Arithmetic. Some questions in Simple Division were worked correctly. Work. The girls work for two hours every afternoon; plain work, knitting, and crotchet. 9. The school is so utterly inefficient that parents are obliged to send their children away to Madras if they want to make anything at all of them. For instance, a boy who wanted to get into the Medical College was obliged to spend some time at a school at Madras before he could venture to present himself for the primary examination. I was informed that some people had been compelled to leave the place in search of respectable elementary education. 10. The 10. The chief causes to which this state of affairs must be attributed appear to be— 1st. The restriction of the head mastership to pensioners, and the consequent impossibility of finding qualified masters. The present head master appears to be a respectable, hardworking man, but he is wholly incompetent. He knows very little himself, and that little he cannot teach. I was informed that when he came from his regiment, a few years ago, he could not read. His wife, the mistress of the girls' school, is much the same, but even more ignorant. 2d. The absence of anything to induce the children to improve themselves. To a. No fee is paid, so that the parents do not care whether the children work or not. b. Clothing is distributed to all the children without reference to their progress. secure this, a child's name is kept on the books after it has been withdrawn, and perhaps sent to another school. c. No attempt is made at discipline. 3d. The absence of any attempt to induce habits of mental or physical activity in the children. They all look dull and almost torpid, and are a great contrast to the children of some schools I have lately seen under the management of natives. 4th. The want of good books. 5th. The doubt which has prevailed, of late at least, as to whose duty it is to superintend the school, and the consequent absence of anything like effective interference. The master complained of the want of proper desks. The tables on which the children write are flat and low. They might, perhaps, write better on sloping desks, but the badness of the writing requires an improvement in the teaching more than in the furniture. 11. Another evil is the absence of instruction in the vernaculars. A school cannot, in my opinion, be considered at all complete in which the vernacular of the district is not taught well. A good knowledge of the vernacular would be most useful to these boys in the ordinary affairs of life, and for almost every profession it is all but indispensable. 12. A number of English boys properly taught, and able to communicate freely with the natives, would be very useful to all within their reach. They would supply to some extent the want so much felt of a society in which the principles of European knowledge are taken for granted in every day intercourse. 13. I was about to recommend the amalgamation of this school with one of our talook schools, and had been at some pains to show that from the period at which the present register commences there have always been some natives in the school who were in no way connected with the army. 14. I had been given to understand, as you were, that the school was the remains of "Her Majesty's Depôt School, established by Sir T. Hislop in 1817," and therefore imagined that there would be no difficulty in carrying out this measure. 15. Finding, however, from your letter of 21st August 1856, No. 693 (which reached me after I had written the above), that that school was closed in 1829, and that you had been unable to get any definite information as to the present school from the Military Secretary to Government, I was obliged to inquire more carefully into its early history. 16. Hearing that the Church Committee had, on one occasion at least, dismissed a master, I got the chaplain to allow me to look through the records of the Committee. 17. The chief points elicited by this search were 1st. That the schools are on the footing of regimental schools. The following passage occurs in a "station record," drawn up by the Rev. H. Taylor on 28th October 1848, when vacating the chaplaincy: "There are no schools under the control of the chaplain, but the depôt school is to be visited by him as a regimental school. The appointment of the masters and mistress rests with the commanding officer, but the chaplain may, as I have done, easily involve the Church Committee in all fresh appointments of this nature. There is no actual responsibility resting with the chaplain in regard to its internal economy, but all will depend on the judgment of the chaplain whether his influence be small or great." 2d. That, except in rare cases, the head master must be a pensioner. On 20th September 1844, the Adjutant General wrote to the staff officer at Poonamallee : "The Commander in Chief sanctions the removal of Corporal Alderton from the office of schoolmaster-serjeant" "and sanctions the employment of F. B. Paget as a temporary arrangement; but the appointment should be filled up by an eligible pensioner, and not by any person unconnected with the service, and you are therefore requested to make inquiry after some fit person of that description." 3d. That "Her Majesty's Adjutant General has for years allowed part of the Canteen Fund to be spent on clothes for the children of the Government School." This passage occurs in a letter addressed, on 1st December 1856, to the Secretary to Woolley's Legacy Committee, by the Reverend R. Posnett, then chaplain, who stated that a permanent grant was required for this purpose, as the allowance was precarious. II. Madras. II. Madras. DIAN 18. Finding that the school is in fact a military school, I went to the commanding officer, Colonel Impett, who kindly had all the papers relating to the subject placed before me. 19. From these it appears that the school was established by G. O. G., of 11th Sep tember 1848, No. 154, on the footing of a regimental school, under the provisions of G. O. G. 13th March 1829. 20. In 1841, all existing rules were cancelled by G. O. G., 6th December, No. 212, by which the following establishment was assigned to this school among others: The public furniture was to be repaired, and books and stationery were to be provided, from a school fund raised from fees to be stopped from the pay of scholars. 21. It was, however, held that no fee was to be required from children, and the inconvenience arising from a want of books was met by Government as follows: Extract Minutes of Consultation, 22d March 1842, No. 1550: "Resolved, agreeably to the recommendation conveyed in the foregoing letter that a similar arrangement to that sanctioned in the extract Minutes Consultation, 8th ultimo, No. 749, for dispensing at the depôt school at Cuddalore with one of the assistant schoolmasters, the salary being drawn and appropriated for the formation of a school fund, be authorized at the depôt school at Poonamallee, where from the want of adult scholars the same difficulty is stated to exist in raising funds for the supply of furniture, stationery, &c. in the manner prescribed in para. 8, G. Ö. G., No. 212 of 1841." 22. All previous orders, however, on the subject of furniture and stationery were cancelled by G. O. G., 10 June 1851, No. 113, by which it is declared that these shall be supplied wholly at the public expense. 23. It would seem to follow as a necessary consequence from this that the second assistant schoolmaster (whose salary was stopped to form a stationery fund) should have been restored; but there are only two masters in the school now. 24. If I am right, the fund now devoted to this school is 65 rupees per mensem, ad libitum, and a portion of the canteen fund set apart for clothing for the children. 25. By G. O. G., 18th August 1829, it was provided that the books in the lending library thereby established should be kept in the school-room, by the master, who was to receive five rupees per mensem for the care of them. This allowance was, by G. O. G., 147, 1840, raised to eight rupees. 26. In the rules published on 10th December 1856, however, it is provided that a librarian, on eight rupees, is to be appointed by the officer commanding the station, subject to the approval of the Commander in Chief; and I am informed that since that time the office has not been held by the schoolmaster-serjeant. 27. The school seems to be the most natural place for the books; and they might be made very valuable to it. 28. From the military constitution of the school, it is useless to think of its being amalgamated with a talook school, and I am not sure that I am right in making any recommendation at all; but I would suggest, 1st. That for the benefit of the school, and to improve the position of the master, the lending library be again established in the school-house; and that he be made librarian. even then he will have only 28 rupees. 2d. That till qualified pensioners can be found, native masters be employed instead to teach the vernacular as well as English. This might induce some pensioners to study. Each man now calculates on the fact that all possible candidates are as ignorant as himself. 3d. That the children be required to pay a fee. 4th. That clothing, if given at all, be given only to the deserving. Prizes might be given instead to the more respectable children. 5th. That the "Committee of Management" be required to look more carefully into the state of the school. 29. I was • "Non-effective" is said to have been explained by Her Majesty's Adjutant General to mean in this case a "pensioner." a In addition to pay and rations. b In addition to pay and allowances of their grade. 29. I was assured that there would be no difficulty in carrying out the 2d and 3d suggestions; and that the pensioners would hail with delight any measure which would enable them to give a tolerable education to their children. At the same time it must be remembered that they are very poor. The papers " *forwarded with your letter are returned herewith. 30. The Tripassore Government School" (maintained for the benefit of the European pensioners who reside there) is "entirely † under the chaplain" who " dismisses the master and mistress." They need not be connected with the pensioners. appoints and 31. The school is held in the centre room of a long low Government building; one side of it is the hospital, and the roof of the others has fallen in. The roof of the school-room is in a dangerous state, some of the wood work of the roof having become detached from the walls, from dry rot or the ravages of white ants. II. Madras. 9 in Number. 33. To provide books and stationery, and to meet necessary expenses, a fee of two annas per mensem is required from those children who learn to write, and one anna per mensem from all others. 34. In a letter addressed, on 29th November 1848, to the secretary to Woolley's Legacy Committee, the Rev. Mr. Posnett stated that the chaplain of Poonamallee was required to examine the children twice a month. The examinations do not seem to have produced much good. 35. Mr. Posnett stated in the same letter that the average attendance at that time was 28 boys and 24 girls. I found only 11 boys and 12 girls, who are mixed in classes. 36. Geography and history are not taught at all; the only map (one of the world) being stowed away in a lumber-room, unused. Only two children learn grammar, and only four are taught to write. Yet some of the present children were at the school in 1853, when the new register was commenced. How long they had then been there I cannot say, the old registers having been lost. 37. The registers show nothing but the fact of a child having been present or absent once each day. 38. A very few remarks will suffice to show the value of this school. CLASS I. 39. Religious Instruction.—The chief object is, of course, the religious instruction of the children; and yet they know nothing of the Bible history, and very little of the most prominent and interesting characters in it. They have been in the habit of reading only the lessons of the day, whatever they may be. I found them reading a chapter in Jeremiah; and it is needless to say that they did not understand it. 40. One consequence of this system is, that they have not read consecutively through a single book of the Bible. Some books are appointed to be read straight through, but the order is interrupted by the Sundays. It did not occur to me to ask what they do when they find lessons taken from the Apocrypha. 41. Considering that the school has to be examined by the chaplain twice a month, it is scarcely credible that such a state of things can have been allowed. 42. Reading. The children's reading is very bad. They neglect the stops and the inflection of the voice, and name the number of a verse before they read it, making such a jumble of the whole, that if I had not had a book in my hand I could not have made out what they meant to say. 43. Spelling.-They spelled tolerably well within certain limits, but I was careful to ask them only comparatively easy words. 44. Writing.-One boy writes fairly; the other three who learn, write very badly. The copy slips are mostly in a book, so that their use is as limited as possible; and they have + Extract from the "Station record" above quoted. been II. Madras. been blotted and scribbled over to such an extent that it is now difficult to read them. The letters in some have been inked over, to render them more legible. I cannot say that this process has much increased their value. 45. Arithmetic.-Three children worked as far as multiplication, with some degree of accuracy; but to ask them for the reasons of the steps they took would have been absurd. The rest are only learning their figures. CLASS II. 46. The children in this class are only learning to read. They seemed to know the words as far as they had gone. 47. No vernacular instruction is given in this school, so that it is difficult to imagine how the children are to earn their livelihood hereafter. 48. I believe the master and mistress are respectable people, but they are as ill-qualified for their posts as any I have met. 49. I have found it very difficult to satisfy myself as to what recommendation I should make about this school. 50. In every school in which religious instruction can be given without injury to the cause it is intended to serve, it must take precedence of all other teaching; and this is especially the case in a place like Tripassore, where the people are sunk in vice and wretchedness. But where to find a master who possesses the chief requisites, piety, intelligence, information, and a knowledge of the vernacular as well as English, and is moreover willing to accept a post worth only 11 rupees a month, I do not know. 51. On the whole, I think the best course will be to break up this school, and add the fund to the sum allowed for the talook school, which will shortly be established at Trivellore, about a mile and a half off, and in which English will be taught. 52. I feel sure that the children will thus obtain a far better secular education than can be given to them at Tripassore; and the emulation that will almost of necessity arise between them and the native boys can scarcely fail to be a vast benefit to both. They sadly want something to arouse them now. The walk, moreover, will do them good. It is pitiable to see the indolent habits and lifeless appearance of European children in this country. 53. For their religious instruction I would provide by the appointment of the most intelligent catechist that can be found, whose duty it should be to give to all children of Christian parents, and any other who may be willing to attend to him, such instruction as may be appointed by the chaplain of Poonamallee, under whose immediate superintendence he should be. It might easily be arranged that this religious instruction should be given to the Christians of each class, while the Heathen boys are engaged on their moral studies. (signed) J. G. Thompson, Inspector of Schools. From A. J. Arbuthnot, Esq., Director of Public Instruction, to the Adjutant General of the Army, Fort St. George, dated 2 February 1857, No. 111. Sir, On the 8th September last the Government furnished me with the enclosed copy of a letter, addressed to the Venerable the Archdeacon by the late chaplain of Poonamallee, bringing to notice the unsatisfactory condition of two schools for boys and girls supported by Government at that station. Mr. Taylor had previously spoken to me about the schools, and the necessity of improving them; and having been given to understand that they did not come under the designation of army schools, and were not, therefore, excluded from my control, I had directed Mr. Thompson, the Inspector of Schools, to inspect them, and to furnish me with a report on them. 2. From Mr. Thompson's report, which fully corroborates Mr. Taylor's statements as to the unsatisfactory condition of the schools and the inefficiency of the present teachers, I find that the schools are essentially military schools, and that in order to admit of his suggestions for their improvement, or those made by the late chaplain, Mr. Taylor, being carried out, a complete change in the rules for the provision of teachers, and for the management of the schools generally, will be required. 3. Under these circumstances I have thought it advisable, before submitting Mr. Thompson's report to Government, to transmit it for the consideration of his Excellency the Commander in Chief, and to request that, with Lieutenant General Grant's permission, you will be good enough to inform me whether it is considered absolutely necessary that the teachers should be selected from among the pensioners resident at Poonamallee; and if not, whether any one of the army schoolmasters trained at the late training institution would be available for the duty. |