, 1898-02-16

Blair, Inspector Of Schools. is the greatly
reduced grant per scholar MS compared with
what it vas ia lie We us If plenty In 1881,
when the number of children examined was
10000. The cost per scholar was $685..
To-day it is only S4S3. although nearly
twice as many children were examined at
the last inspection, and n more schools aIe
il existence. And but for Tire ftct, SAYS the
Reporter, that sone sch oIs ia spl>pIy
pppllaIei I|oCl'iti.s aad Mi>Siol Schools for
Ab.oriGinal IEdians +. ceive twice as much
as other schools. The expenditure would have
been slightly less.
Obviously, the motto Of the Education
Department. is economy; and no better could
be chosen, especially in these days. Ia his
etouo nical measures. Mr.. 81 il has been
consistent, and although his department may
have offered more facilities than Others for
the application Of tile pruning knife, some
credit must DO accorded to him for the move
ment Of retrenchment which he feorlessIy
initiated a0d has successfully continued. OF
course tur >chOOlmasters are not enamOurCd
of Mr.. BIair's policy and aim and this is
quite natural. No man likes his earnings to
remain stationary while he is called upon to
undertake more arduous labours, and it cannot
he denied that Primary School teachers must
now exercise more energy and diligence than
they used TO, to hold their own.
Although 23,452 children are on the books
of 2O7 schools in the Colony, The average
attendance is only Is ,627-an eloquent tes-
iimony to the value set upon education By
parents in general. (StiII we are not as
negligent as the Leeward Islands, where half
the number Of pupils on The books do not
attend SCHOOL, 1t also brings to light one
Of the grievances of the masters. and the
WOrthlessness Of the compulsory clauses of
the EluoUtion Ordinance In the Report
under review, the Inspector Of Schools offrrs
no remarks in this connection, but it can be
CLEANED from Appendix K (ten) lCorrespon.
denca with reference to Compulsory Educa-
ton submitted as n lejaindcr to question
239S Education Comuis5ion) that he fully
recognizes how unsatisfactory is the attend.
auce at the schools, and how dificult il is to
euforoe the compulsory provisions of the
Ordinance. Mr.. Blair should not weary Of
pressing this important matter on the alton
ton of The Government. Nor should he
beguiIe himself into the belief that one
Educational District Oiccr can do the work
Of the three Counties.
The grants-in-aid have arisen from 599.31l
in 1896 to 500, 779-1n increase Of S468;
but the average grant per scholar examined
shows a decrease Of 4 cents.
In the deuOminaliOndl distribution of the
schools. the Church Of Euglmd comes first
with -, the Church Of Scotland has 36, Con.
gregaiionals 20, Wesleyans 20, Roman Ca
lholics %, Estate Schools -, Moravians .
and LutheranS l.
The provincial distribution is ;-Dcmorara
100, Be- bice "a, Essequibo Al.
MIR. Blair, in maintaining that the number
Of children presented for examination in the
lowest standards (l6,22O Is out Of all pro-
portion to the few presented in the upper
standards a, 42Q), r~riterates the proposal
which he previously made-to double the
value Of a pass in the latter and to decrease
ii in the former. Says he -
During the last six years the number Of
scholars presented for examination was over
one hundred and ten thousand, but nearly
~one!laIf If this large number were in stan
dards beloW the Mjrd, AMI out of every thou
sand scholars examined only - reached
standard VIII. l would therefore repeat
and emphasize what Is stated above, viz,
that the number Of scholars examined in the
lower st mdarGs is out Of all proportion to
those presented in the higher.
1t is no wonder that the schoolmastets
objected TO the proposal referred to. The
gramt-in-ail would have gone down consi-
dorably and a once, even if the standard Of
efficiency we've superior, for the simple
reason that the Attendance i'll the upper
.oul,rl, 10 ont &c oil rrono,Ai Oo q, tbot j.,