Page 123 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (IV)_Neat

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conduct of the teaching staff during the. year was, on the whole, satisfactory; only two foreign teachers
were discharged for unsuitable behaviour. In the summer the Director of liduca^ a visited Syria, the
Lebanon and Egypt to recruit more teachers. In the Lebanon, with the help of the British Council officials
in Beirut and Damascus, he recruited ten Palestinians and two Syrians. The employment of Palestinian
refugees presents certain problems. The Government regards it as undesirable to give contracts to men
who, should they prove unsatisfactory, are unable to return to the country from whence they came, nor is
it possible, in the beginning, to allow them to bring with them all their relations. This caused difficulties
at the end of the year when, as a result of devaluation, the value of the rupee, in terms of the Lebanese
pound, decreased considerably.
The Teachers Training Class, for young men from the Secondary School, continued during the
year. Nine boys from the first group graduated at the end of the school year and became teachers in town
and village schools, but only five boys joined the class at the beginning of the term. The number of young
men who offered themselves as candidates for this class was less than before.
Two young teachers, who passed out of the Secondary School some years ago and have since been
teaching, were sent on a nine months course to Nottingham University to learn, especially, new methods
of teaching English. Reports on their progress have been satisfactory and it is hoped that more young
men may be sent to such courses in future. Advice and assistance in this and other matters was given by
the British Council representative in Basra who visited Bahrain several times during the year.

Higher Education
The Government schools provide education in Bahrain up to Secondary School standards. A few
promising boys were granted scholarships to the Beirut University; these scholarships are given to boys
who could not, without financial help, continue their studies abroad. At the end of the school year there
were seven scholarship boys at the American University of Beirut, one of whom is due to sit for his B.A.
examination next year. In addition to Government students a number of Arab merchants and some
members of the Ruling Family sent their sons to Beirut, India and to England for advanced education.
Seven boys from Bahrain continued their education at Millfield School, in Somerset, a school which seems
to be eminently suitable for boys from this part of the world, though not everyone can afford the considerable
expense of paying for their sons’ education in England during the school months and during the lengthy
holidays. Shaikh Hamed bin Mohammed continued his studies at Stanford University, California.

Secondary School
This school continued to make good progress, at the end of the year it contained 125 boys, the same
number as in the previous term. It is unlikely that at present this school will be enlarged owing to the
fact that most boys leave school either before or when they complete their primary education, in order to
take up work in Bahrain with oil companies or contractors or to work in neighbouring countries. The
incentive of highly paid though temporary posts outside Bahrain continues to attract most young men
when they leave school. The standard and range of work in the Secondary School compares favourably
with that in the most advanced Arab States. The medium of instruction is Arabic, but the English
language is given a high place in the curriculum. The school is in a hired building, above the East
Primary School; the Government contemplates building a large new Secondary School on the land
north of the Palace, but this cannot be started until 1370.
Hostel
During the year 50 boys resided in the hostel and 23 men and women teachers had their meals
there, the teachers worked in Manama schools but lived outside. Manama. The hostel continued to be
the main centre for educational activities such as meetings, cinema shows, receptions, etc. It was decided
during the year to build a large new hostel, rather on the lines of a college building, with dormitories, play
rooms, dining rooms, accommodation for resident teachers, a mosque and a hall on the corner of Belgrave
Road and Shaikh Daij Road, on the land south-east of Manama which is being developed as a residential
area. The present building is not the property of the Government and consists of two Arab houses, which
were not built for the purpose for which they are used.

Primary Schools
The four Primary schools and the Muharraq Kindergarten school functioned satisfactorily during