Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1898-06-02
AN EGYPTIAN ETON.
SCHOOLS IN WHICH THE RICH BOYS
OF CAIRO ARE EDUCATED.


OF CAIRO ARE EDUCATED.
Difficulties That English Teachers Have to
Contend with-Pupils Are Boys In Name
Only, For the Egyptians Have No Gen.
uine Youth.
They were training for the sports. In
the sunny playground was row of big,
fat boys-though none of them came
within six inches of the slim, young,
-befezzed English head master-hanging
on to a rope made fast round tree. The
trained instructor from Aldershot-he
not SO young or slim as he has been,
but with muscles all india rubber and
steel-was teaching them the tug Of
war. His white toothed, black faced,
khaki clad Sudanese assistants were
helping him.
1 was in the Egyptian Elton. 1t was
one of three schools originally founded
for training teachers capable of giving
instruction in English or French. But
now it contains primary and secondary
schools and training college for the
teachers, SO that was in fair way to
see at its best a summary of the whole
system Of public instruction in Egypt.
1t is only In its infancy as yet.
First we went into the primary
school. There were not many pupils be-
cause the fees here are high-as much
as $50 and $75 year for day boys
and nobody much comes to the primary
part except those who have failed else
where and whose fathers think the high
fee a guarantee of high examining.
The primary course in Egypt takes four
years; in the first, only Arabic subjects
are taught; after that, English or
French is introduced and gradually ex-
tended till in the two last years it takes
IS hours out of the weekly 33. All the
instruction in languages is given in the
language itself, but by natives Only
one-English or French-is taught, but
that is taught thoroughly.
In the lowest class there were just
four boys-absurd little owls with the
gravity Of old men, dressed in fez and
overcoat. They were getting drawing
lesson from an elderly Arab with a
shawl round his head. When Invent in,
they all stood up and salrted. In the
highest class they were having an Eng
lish lesson from young native in a
large butterfly tie. Their English was
thick and sloppy SO. if it came to that,
was the masters. Still you could under
stand it. In this class mustaches were
already budding, and it seemed strange
to hear young men reading infaEtile
stuff about the sparrow.
The great difficulty in schools like
this arises from the fact that Mussul-
man is never a boy. AS soon as he
leaves the harem and is no longer baby
he jumps at bound to being man. A
boy will do we'll in his classes up to IA,
Is, 16, and then suddenly the cafes and
hasheesh and lights O. love claim him,
and from a bright eyed urchin he be-
comes sallow, dashy, sodden, stupid,
dissipated man about town. In one pri
mary school two boys, Is and IA, have
just been married-not betrothed, you
know, but really married, and living
with their wives. The native master
saw nothing extraordinary in married
sixth standard boy. Under the former
system boy took his primary certifi
cate, which qualities for lower govern
ment posts, at II Or so, then spent six
years getting his secondary certificate,
and then perhaps went on to the train
ing college or the schools Of medicine Or
of law. Consequently he might easily
be the father of very fair sized family
years before he started to earn piastre.
Lately, by shortening the secondary
course from five years to three, real
effort has been made to get boys out of
hand and into the world before 20 or So
When we got on to tie top form of the
secondary school, there was no appreci-
able difference in the sort of boy-all
befezzed, all overccated, most mustach-
ed, all grave, as if school were o matter
of life and death.
There is no difficulty in point of dis
cipline with the Egyptian schoolboy.
The French masters have some trouble
was told, but in the very,
very rare cases where an English master
finds his classes too much for him he
must go. 1t will not do to bring up the
young in the idea that they may set at
naught the authority of an Englishman.
And what, when all is said and done,
Of the Egyptian schoolboy? Does he do
any good in return for the patient, in
telligent, honest care his English mas
tiers bestow on him? Well, he is learn
ing to play football, and that will be
good for him, only when boy says to
his master, after playing the Egyptian
1.-THE ground was too undu-
lating; it recalled to me Hannibal's
passage Of the Alps why. then, you
perceive that even football will not nee
turn precocious man into a
boy again. He is astonishingly indus
trious. The difficulty is not to make
him work, but to prevent him from
overworking. Eight hours home work
after five and half in school is by no
means an unknown performance. Some
Of his work in English literature which
saw compares quite we'll with that of
extension students at home,
but, like theirs, it reads very textbooky
He has an astonishing gift for Ian
yuages, and he can appreciate play of
with ghosts or witches in
it and a good allowance of ford meta
phor, no worse-perhaps better-than
an English schoolboy.
But at the end of it all he is parrot.
like in his unintelligence, incorrigible
in his inaccuracy, hopelessly fatuous in
MS dishonesty. He understands ordi-
nary English, if you ask him questions,
1ncommonly well, but he will reel you
off page of textbook, understanding
he meaning of each word, but without
IN idea of the connected sense of it.
Will they ever make boy of him?
If skill and trying can do it, they will,
and if he can be made boy he can be
made man. But it is work against the
collar, and it will not be done today or
tomorrow. &C, W. Stevens in London