Page 187 - Records of Bahrain (5) (ii)_Neat

The progress of state education, 1939-1941 507

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Having considorod tho only sorious doficionoios in tho pres out school
curriculum, "'o in iy now turn to tho quoslion of Policy. What subjoofcs
shall wo touch our boys, and within what framowork shall tho touching ho
given ?
As lo tho fnnnowork, most fortunatoly tho policy which I wish to
recommend doe* not ontail any oxtonsivo altoration of tho existing schcmo,
except, of course, tho building of threo outiroly soparato infants’ schools, an
innovation which 1 regard as a sine tjua non to any substantial improve­
ment in the staiidard of education at Bahrain. What I proposo to your
Highness is as follows:
Wo make 0 years tho full educational lifo of a boy in a Government
school, and we divide up thoso 0 yours into threo equal poriods, or Stages, of
:j years each. Wo call Iheso tho First, or Infants’ Stugo; tho Second, or
Iuleruicdiulo Stage ; and tho Third, or Final Stage, Wo allot ono Glass to
each year of education. Tho lowest Class iu an Infants’ School is tho First
(.’lurs, and the highest Class in a Final Stago Sohool is tho Ninth Class.
Wo make tho existing schools at Manamah, Muharraq, and ETedd into
Intermediate and Final schools (containing, thorofore, Classes 4 to 0), and
we make tho existing schools at Suq-al-IChamis, Uufa’a, Budaya, and Sitra
into Illinois’ and Intermediate schools (containing, therefore, Classes 1 to 0).
This leaves us with no Infants’ accomodation at Manamah, Muharraq, und
Ilcdd, and no Final Stago accomodation at tho four village schools. To
correct this, we build First Stage, or Infants’ schools at Maumnah,
;Mulmmi(|, and licdd, and if thoro aro any boys at any of tho four village
schools who seem worth educating into tho Final Stago wo trunsfor them,
for the last threo yours of their education, to ono or other of tho Final Stage
schools, under a schemo which I shall outline later.

We bear in mind, as a first prinnplo, that no tirao, mouoy, or effort is
to be wasted in trying to educate boys who aro not cducublo. With this
iu viow, we lay down tho following rules:

•Wo refuso to allow any boy, undor any circumstancos whatsoever, to
enter a First Stago, or Infants’ school until ho has reached tho ago of (».
We refuse to allow any boy in an Infants’ school to spend moro than
lour years in completing its il-year courso.
Me refuse to allow any boy to entor a Socond Stago, or Intermediate
school unless ho has passed tho Final Examination of tho First Stago, or
Infants’ .school. (This moans that any infant who is woak or backward at
tho end of his third year, and so fails in his final examination, will bo givon
°uo further chance ; hut it also moans that if ho is so weak or so backward
us to ho unable to pass tho final examination at tho and of tho fourth yoar,
us education is finished, and ho coasos to bo an oxponso to tho Stato or a
r,lo 0,i tin*, work of tho schools.*)
M a refuse to allow any boy in a Soooud Stago, or Intormodiato school
0 spend more than four years in coinplotiug its il-yoar courso.

Wo refuse to allow any boy to ontor o Third Stago, or Final school—
jwmif ho Inis passed tho final examination of tho Stago bolow— unloss wo
nili ,lim Lo bo really worth highor oduoabiou. In other words, only tho
p,CK 01 the hoys in tho Islaud will bo allowed by us to ontor a Third