Page 212 - Records of Bahrain (5) (ii)_Neat

532 Records of Bahrain

51

IScfmv we loavo the question of school boohs, a few words ou<»ht to bo
{Jlid on lin: subject of Translations.
The supply of good school boohs in the Arabic language is vory
limited, e>|Hi:iiillya3 regards boohs for the vory young, and boohs ou
umlhciniitie.-'. It is therefore necessary, if wo aro to get tho best results
from our schools, to fall bade upon translations iuto Arabio of good English
text-books. Those of tho Bahrain schoolmasters who aro competent to
,,roduco really good translations for use iu tho schools should bo eu-
lonriigcd to do so, and should bo paid for their work.
1 suggest- to your Highness that instructions should bo given to tho
new Inspector, whon ho is going into tho whole quostion of sohool boohs,
to tear in mind tho fact that it is far bottor to use a local translation
of a first-class foreign text-book than to rely upon a socoud-rato book
which happens to be alroady available in tho Arabio languago. As regards
mathematics especially, it would bo wiso for tho Inspector to sot about
having u translation mado immediately, aud tho Euglish toxt-book which
J recommend for this purposo is Borchardt’s School Arithmetic—not
the whole of it, but certain suitable sections.

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