2
The difference between the intelligence displayed by the civilian and
military students is marked in many cases, and is due solely to the fact that,
as a rule, the military men have received very little primary education. Those
military men who had satisfactory primary education passed very well. The
majority of the military students, however, did badly in all the examina-
tions. I have addressed the Director of Land Records and Agriculture,
Punjab, on the subject of remedying this unsatisfactory state of affairs. It is
very necessary that something should be done, as some Regiments are very short
of Veterinary Assistants and need them badly. With regard to the Civilian
students selected by the Principal, it will be seen that the result of the year's
work has been very good, for out of 10 scholarship holders, in the 1st Year's
Class, one only, who had not been selected by us but nominated by a District
Board, failed. In Class B, out of 15, 2 failed, one of whom was nominat-
ed by a District Board; and in Class C, out of 8, only 1 failed, This gives
about 87.87 of passes. The Military students, however, did badly. In the 1st
Year, there were 13 failed out of 26, or 50 per cent. In the 2nd Year, 10
failed out of 21 or 47.6 per cent., and in the 3rd Year, 3 failed out of 11, or
27.27 per cent. Our results therefore should be judged in accordance with
these facts.
I have addressed the Punjab Government on the subject of holding ex-
aminations at shorter intervals than one year. I consider it a very great hard-
ship that a man who fails for a few marks only in one subject should be
condemned to pass another whole year in the College, and be practically on the
same footing as a man who has failed badly in two or three subjects. Although
the results of the year's teaching work are generally good, still they are not up
to the average, and I consider that the men should have been better taught than
they were, especially in the 2nd Year's Class.
The remark made by the examiner on Soundness and Age and the de-
tection of lameness, is, doubtless, more or less justifiable, as is also the remark
about the teaching of Handling of Animals. I am conscious of the fact that in
some of the subjects which had to be taught, sufficient instruction was not
given. But this is the fault of the system and not of the teaching staff of the
College, and the reason for it is not far to seek. The European Professor was
removed from his duties on the 6th of January 1902, and no one was sent to
replace him until 27th of October 1902, when I had to report by telegram that
the work was at a standstill before any assistance was given me, and this, not-
withstanding the fact that in last year's annual report the following passage
occurs "It will, of course, be impossible for us to now teach the five extra"
"subjects, especially without the services of a qualified and hardworking Pro-"
"fessor who has a good knowledge of the language permanently appointed to the"
"College." When it is considered that the subjects taught have been increased
from 4 to 7 and that the number of students has risen from 83 to 119, whilst,
not only has no addition been made to the teaching staff, but the Professor has
been removed for about 10 months, and the Principal expected to perform the
extra duties in addition to his own, the wonder is not that the results were not
up to the average, but that the work could have been carried on at all. But
whatever the results are, it does not appear to me that students sent here for
education, and paying fees, or, at any rate, spending precious time, should suffer
from the weakness of the teaching staff, and it is only just to them that this
should be maintained in a state of efficiency.
Even with the assistance of a permanent European Professor who
is capable of lecturing in Urdu, as few are, it is observed, that the Board
of Examiners consider that the subjects which the Principal has to teach
are far too many and recommend the appointment of a 3rd European Pro-
fessor, could a suitable man be obtained. With this, I agree. Teachers
well acquainted with the subject and with the art of teaching, and suffi-
cient knowledge of Urdu to teach in that language are not very easily ob-
tained. I have in previous reports alluded to this subject, and again repeat
that the language qualification is absolutely necessary in a vernacular teach-
ing institution such as this is; and it is of little use appointing a man
who does not possess this qualification in addition to a good knowledge of
the subjects he is to teach.