Page 144 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (I)_Neat

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Proposed Reforms. The chief fault in education uptill
now has been an attempt to teach too many and too advanced

subjects, which even if they are understood will be of no
use to boys who will mostly become divers, boat owners
or petty shopkeepers.
The present curriculum includes: Algebra, Geometry,

Chemistry, Physics, Music and English in five out of eight
classes. Not only are these subjects useless but in most
cases the teaching of them is badly done.

Shaikh Abdullah, who, although he has only the elements
of education himself, is a man of unusual intelligence,
in consultation with the Inspector of education and myself
has decided to make radical changes at the beginning of

the next school year, The services of most of the present
foreign masters will be dispensed with, By "foreign”

is meant persons from outside the Gulf, They will be
replaced by four of the young Bahrain men who are being
educated at Government expense at Beyrout University.
Two new headmasters will be imported for Manamah and

Muharrak, if possible one of these will be an "Aalim"
of some reputation but holding modern views. The names

of two well knoY/n religious and educational personages in
Syria have been mentioned. The rest of the masters will
be local pupil teachers from the schools themselves.
Efforts are being made to obtain a man to teach practical

carpentry and another to teach agriculture.
English will only be taught in the two or three top

classes, tne other subjects will.be religion, Arabic
grammar, reading and writing, history, geography, arith­
metic drawing and singing. Scouting will be introduced
into the Manamah and Uuharrak schools. The programme in

the smaller schools vail be more simple consisting of religion,
reading, writing and arithmetic.