Page 158 - Records of Bahrain (5) (ii)_Neat

480 Records of Bahrain

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When wo aro considering tbo question of public instruction it is well
U> keep clearly in our minds tbe four main ideas upon which any rational
..rlieino of education must bo built up. Thoso four ideas aro : Purpose,
.Policy, Control, and Method. Wo must know what is our purposo in provid­
ing education at all ; wo must select somo policy which is likely to uchiovo
||,at purpose ; wo must furnish somo kind of control ; and a choice must bo
ji sule among the various methods of instruction.

Tbo purposo of education can bo decided only by tho authority which
is providing it; tho policy to bo pursued may well form tho subjeot of
suggestions by an adviser; tho coutrol of tho sohorno should bo put into tho
bunds of somo sort of supervisor ; and to him should bo loft tho duty of
deciding upon nud instituting the exact methods of instruction which aro
lo bo cmplojcd in tbo schools for which ho is rosponsiblo.
My first step, Ihercforo, was to 6cck au intorviow with tho Education
Depart incut, in order lo ask them what was their purposo in providing public
instruction in Bahraiu. Tho reply which I received was as follows : “Tho
purposo of tho (iovernmout is to provido tho State with loyal aud usoful
subjects, and to provido thoso subjocts with somothing of value to them­
selves."
Tbo purposo having been thus clearly defined, T was abloto begin
my inspection of tho schools, with a view to forming an opinion about
policy, coutrol, aud method.