The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1898-03-02
AN EGYPTIAN ETON.
SCHOOLS IN WHICH The RICH BOYS
or CAIRO ARE EDUCATED
Difficulties That English Teachers Have To
Contend With Pupils Are Bo,s In Name
uinp Youth

hhhchHles That English Teachers Have To
Contend With Pupils Are Bo,s In Name
Only. For the Egyptians Have M Cen
uine Youth.
They were training for the SRerts In
the sunny playground was row of big,
fat hoys--thnugh none Of them camo
within six inches af the slim. young,
hote12ed English head mastcr-hangng
on To rope made fast round tree, The
trained instructor from Aldcrshot he
| not SO young or slim rs 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 Sudaneso assistants we're
helping him
was in tho Egyptian Eton 1t was
one Of three schools originally founded
| for training teachers capable of giving
instruction in English or French But
now IL contains primary and secondary
schools and II training college for the
| teachers, to that | was in fair way to
see ut its best summary of the whole
system of public instruction in Egypt.
1t Is only in its infancy MS 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 $15 "A 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 guarantee Of high examining.
The primary course III Egypt takes four
years; in the first, only Arabic subjects
arc taught after that, English or
French is introduced and gradually ex.
tended till in the two last years 1t takes
10 hours out of the weekly 93 All the
instruction in languages is given in the
language itself. but by natives only
one-Engiish or French-is taught. tut
that is taught thoroughly.
In the lowest class there We're Just
four hoys--ahsurd little owls with tho
gravity Of old men. dressed i'll fe2 and
overceat. They We're getting drawing
lesson from an elderly Arab with II
shawl round his head When went in,
they all stood up and salHt'd In the
highest class they were having IN Eng
lish lesson from Il yunng native III Il
large butterfly tie Their English was
thick and sloppy "a, if II came 10 that
was the masters. still You could under
stand IL. In this class mustaches WIN
already budding, and ii seemed strange
to hear young men reading iniantle
stuff about the sparrow
Tho great difficulty in school~ like
this arises from the fact that Mpssul
man is never a hoy. A. suan as he
leaves the harem and is no longer baby
he Jumps at hound to being "A man \
boy will do well in his Glasses up tn II,
10, 10, und then suddenly the eaies and
hasheesh and lights o love cla#m him,
and from "A bright eyed urehln ho he.
comes "A sallow liashy, soddeH stupid,
| dissipatt hian ahout town Ia ene pri-
mary school two boys, III and H. have
| just been married--nnt betrothed, you
| know, but really married, and living
with their wives. The native mugter
saw nothing extraordinary in II married
sixth standard boy. Under the former
system boy took his primary cortii-
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 tram
| ing college or tie schools Of medicine or
of law. Consequently he might EASILY
| be tho father OF very fair sized family
years before lac started 10 earn piastrc.
Lately, by shortening tho secondary
course from five years to three, u real
effort has been made 10 get boys ont Of
hand and into the world before 20 OF SO.
When we got on to the top form II the
secondary school there was ia appreei
able difference il the sort Of hoy-all
befe2zed, all oyereuatcd, most mustach-
ed. all grave, az if school were II matter
of life and death.
There is no difficulty in point Of dis.
cipline with tho Egyptian sehoolhoy.
| The French masters have some trouble
sometimes, | was told, but in tho very,
very rare eases where an English master
finds his classes too much for him he
must go. Ii will not do to bring up the
young in the idea that they may set ut
Daught the authority Of an EnRlishman.
And what, when all is said and done,
Of tho Egyptian aehoolboy? 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 bo
good for him. only when a boy says to
his master, after playing tho Egyptian
Sandhurst. 1.-The ground was too undu
lating; it recalled TO me IIannibal's
passage Of the Alps, ;" why, then. you
perceive that even football will not nee
essaTily turn "a prec0eidus man into a
boy again. Ilo Is astonishinRly indus
trious The difficulty il not to make
him work, but to prevent him from
oyerworking, Eight hours home work
after five and half III school is by no
means an unknown performance. Some
of his work in English literature which
| saw compares quite we'll with that Of
university extension studant= at home.
! but, like theirs, it reads very textbO0ky.
| He has an astonishing gift for Ian
guages, and he can appreciate play Of
Shakespeare with ghosts or witches in
it and good allowance Of ford meta
phor, no wurse-pcIhaps bctter-than
| AN EnBllsb hchoelboy.
But ut the end of it all he is parrot
like in his unintclli2ence, incorrigible
in bis inaccuraey, horclessly fatuous i'll
his dishonesty. He understands drdi-
nary English if you ask him questions,
uncommonly we'll, but he will reei you
off page Of textbook, understanding
the meaning Of each word, but without
! an idea Of the connected sense Of it.
/ VIII they ever make "a boy Of himi
Ii skill and trying can do it, they Will.
and if he ran be made a boy he can be
made man. But it is work against the
/ collar, and it viii not be done today or
+ tomorrow C w Stevens in London
Mail.
A Truthful Statement.