Page 37 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (IV)_Neat

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trained girl was appointed to be headmistress of one of the large town schools and this appointment
definitely marks an advance. A house in a central part of the town was bought from a member of the
Khalifah family and after some alterations it made a very good school with a large compound in the
middle of the building which was used for games and drill. The staff, who arc all local, appear to be
very keen and are working well together.
Another Muharraq trained girl was appointed as headmistress in the Hedd School. The
previous headmistress was put in charge of the needlework. Five of the Lebanese teachers who were
in Bahrain left at the end of the last school year, three left in order to be married and two resigned
for family reasons. They were replaced by five new teachers one of whom was appointed as head­
mistress of the Khadija al Kobra School and one as headmistress of the Rafaa School. One of the
younger teachers was put in charge of Arithmetic in the two largest schools in Manama and Muharraq,
Arithmetic being always a subject in which the girls are very weak. The result of this extra tuition
was soon evident. The teacher who was previously headmistress was appointed to run the needle­
work. The annual needlework exhibition took place as usual and was attended by a large number of
people.
An innovation this year was a Drill Display which was carried out by the combined schools-
This was the first occasion on which the girls had drilled in public. It was well received by the parents.
The Zahara School put on a play and entertainment for the first time, which was very well done.
The usual school activities included picnics, meetings of the Arabic Speaking Societies, etc., etc.
The numbers of pupils in the schools did not increase during the year and the top classes were
still small. There are various reasons to account for this; some girls leave because they find that
they can make quite a lot of money by sewing and knitting, owing to the present state of prosperity
many people keep servants who did not do so before, the numerous Indian families who have settled
in Bahrain create a demand for women servants and as soon as they are old enough to be able to work
many of the poorer girls are withdrawn from school by their parents and put into domestic service.
Usually only the daughters of well-to-do parents complete their schooling and reach the top classes.
For this reason the number of graduates is small in comparison to the number of students in the
schools. At present all those who graduate can be absorbed into the teaching staff.
Many girls have adopted a sort of school uniform and nearly all of them now wear European,
clothes. Uniform is not compulsory for two reasons ; some of the more old-fashioned parents might
object to their daughters wearing uniforms and it is likely that the poorer girls could not afford to buy
special clothes. The only thing which the school authorities insist upon is cleanliness.
All the schools took an active part in helping to collect funds and clothing for the Arab refugees-
in Palestine and they supported every appeal which was made by the local aid for Palestine committee.
During the year a class for sewing and Arabic was started for older girls who had left school and for
young married women in Manama and Muharraq.
Text books were difficult to obtain but a certain amount of kindergarten equipment was
imported from England. Two new classrooms were added to the Rafaa School and repairs were
carried out in all the other schools. The Lady Doctor made an examination of all the girls in the
schools and reported an improvement in their health and cleanliness.
The number of girls in the schools at the end of the year was as follows
Aisha Om-Al Momineen School (Manama). 316
Fatmah Al-Zahra School (Manama) 237
Khadijah Al-Kobra School (Muharraq) 2S9
Muharraq School (New)........................ 195
Hedd Girls’ School.................................... 127
Rafaa Girls' School.................................... HO
Total .. 1,263