Page 124 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (IV)_Neat

26
the year. The number of boys being educated in these town schools was 2,010, about 75 per cent of the
total number of boys attending schools in Bahrain. In some of the schools classes were sub-divided, to
avoid crowding, but even by this method it was impossible to avoid having, in some cases, as many as 55
boys in the lowest class. In time, when more trained teachers become available, the number of children in
the classes will be reduced. Bahrain children usually start school when they are about seven or eight years
old and in most eases after they have attended Koran schools. For this reason it was found desirable to
change the Kindergarten period from three years to two years so that in every Primary school there were
two preparatory and four primary grades.

Village Schools
Conditions in the village schools continued to improve. The standard of boys in all schools is no
longer much lower than that of the corresponding level in the town schools. Improved transport facilities
enabled teachers from Manama and Muharraq to attend regularly the village schools. It requires, however,
a complicated organisation to dispatch teachers to the various village schools in different parts of Bahrain,
some of the schools are reached by roads which are very hard on motor transport. The new school
which was opened at West Rafaa was immediately filled to capacity and it already seems that more class
rooms will have to be added to it. Village boys took part in games and sports with the town schoolboys
and gave a good account of themselves. Some who attended the Manama schools returned to their villages
and, it is understood, suggested to their fathers ways and means of improving the standard of living in the
villages. In three of the village schools, Khamis, Budeya and Sitra, lessons in gardening and simple
agriculture were given by one of the Egyptian teachers, who holds a diploma in agriculture, and school
gardens were started, watered from surface wells which were dug in the neighbourhood of each school.

Medical
Special clinics for schools could not be arranged owing to the absence of a school doctor. In
Manama and Muharraq schoolboys attended the Government clinics and some went to the Mission Hospital
because it was nearer to the schools than the Government Hospital. There is a marked difference between
the appearance of the boys to-day and a few years ago ; they look sturdier and healthier than they used to,
a fact which is very evident when they appear en masse at the school sports. This is greatly due to the
generally improved standard of living, but it is also partly owing to cleanliness, exercise and hygiene which
they are taught at school.

Equipment
Sufficient supplies of books and stationery arrived during the year. New furniture to provide for
the increase in students was made locally and a number of wood and metal desks and chairs were ordered
in England from one of the best known suppliers of school furniture. History and Geography books for
Bahrain schools were printed in Egypt.

General
In the spring holidays some of the boys went into camp at Sitra and a school football team went
to Dhahran, in Saudi Arabia, where several matches were played.

Boys’ schools showed some of their work in the Annual Exhibition at the Palace when sewing and
embroidery from the Girls’ schools was exhibited, this included models, relief maps, drawings and paintings.
The paintings, in water colour and tempera, attracted universal attention. Most of the pictures were of
local subjects, fish, diving, the Muharram procession, figures and landscapes. Some of the work showed
great originality and a real sense of colour and composition.

Sporting events included the Annual Sports meeting at which displays of physical training, running
and jumping were included, an inter-school swimming competition at Adhari, and inter-school games such
as basket ball, football, etc. The Bahrain Petroleum Company continued to provide scholarships for
Secondary and Technical school boys to the value of Rs. 6,ooo per annum. The scholarships enabled the
holders to live at the hostel and to attend the Technical and Secondary schools.