Page 38 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (IV)_Neat

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TECHNICAL SCHOOL

(From the report of Mr. Said Tabbara, Headmaster, Technical School.)
Attendance.—The number of boys registered in 1367 was 60, as against 46 in 1366 ; of these
18 worked at carpentry and the remainder were in the mechanical section. The increase in the
number of students was mainly due to the following reasons ; the Government fixed the basic pay for
boys entering Government service from the Technical School at the same rate as the pay of graduates
from the Secondary School, the Bahrain Petroleum Company co-operated with the Government
in matters concerning the school and no longer engaged boys from the school who had not completed
the school course.

Work.—The school is divided into four classes, in addition to practical work the students are
given lessons in English, Arabic, Arithmetic, etc. A new teacher from Beirut was appointed at the
beginning of the term to teach English and Arithmetic.

The mechanical section of class four, the senior class in the school, spend four days of the week
in the Bahrain Petroleum Company’s workshops where they serve as apprentices and are paid at the
daily rate of Rs. 4. Here they receive training in the machine shops, garages and other sections which
is of great value to them. On the two days when they work in school they are given lessons in Machine
and Geometrical Drawing, Metallurgy, English and Arithmetic. The Company sends in careful reports
on the work of these boys who, on the whole, are doing well. This new arrangement by which boys
work both at school and at Awali is a very satisfactory development.
At the end of the last school year four students graduated, three were from the mechanical
section and one was from the carpentry section. Two of these boys took service with the Bahrain
Petroleum Company, one entered the Government workshop and the fourth boy went to Saudi Arabia
and opened his own workshop there. All boys who graduate from the school can depend upon
immediately obtaining well paid posts by the tremendous demand for carpenters and mechanics,
especially if they have a little knowledge of English still causes numbers of boys to leave the school
before they are fully trained, because their parents wish them to become wage earners. The Technical
School is maintained at great expense by the Government, boys who have been trained in it are
guaranteed employment but still, in order to persuade boys to attend the school, the Government
has to pay them allowances.

During the school year the boys were taken to visit various places of interest such as the Bahrain
Petroleum Company s workshops. They took an active part in school sports and joined in various
inter-school games and competitions. Health throughout the year was good and absences were few.
Buildings. Two new rooms were added to the school towards the end of the year, one was
for the use of the foundry section and the other was a changing room. A new basket ball ground
was arranged close to the school and arrangements were made for the boys to use the Police football
field.
Transport ✓—Transport in the past cost about Rs.1,500 per year, this amount being spent on
bus hire. During the year the school acquired a second hand Austin ambulance from the Govern­
ment which was repaired in the ‘ichool workshop and converted into a school bus. The bus conveys
students between Manama and Muharraq.

Revenue and Expenditure.—During the year Rs. 5,300 was received in payment for outside
work. It was found however that for the school to undertake outside work was neither profitable
nor in the best interests pf the students. At the end of the school term three workmen instructors,
who had been retained mainly for the purpose of superintending outside order work, were dispensed
with and no more applications for private work were accepted.
The cost of running the school during 1367 was Rs. 51,000 with approximately the same staff,
at the same expense the school could provide for another forty boys.