Page 112 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (III)_Neat

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Staff.
At the end of the second-year 1361-2 the then senior Woodwork Instructor, Bashir
Abu Ghazaleh, resigned after 7 years’ service. It has not yet been possible to replace him. His
colleague in the Woodwork Department is not so well qualified to teach, or to manage the contract
work in the shop. A large part of the work in this Department has therefore been undertaken by the
Principal.
Two other Syrian teachers have remained on the staff, one, previously mentioned, taking a
large share in the general organisation and doing much of the class teaching (mechanics, drawing and
technical subjects). The other is less versatile, but his work in the Engineering Shop has been
satisfactory under the severe limitations imposed on him.
The English teacher, a local man, has worked willingly but he is not a skilful teacher, producing
rather poor results. Three ' Workman-Instructors’ are employed in the shops, and although they do
not give regular lessons they are of great assistance in supervising workshop practice.
Since the beginning of the school-year 1362-3 (September 1943) the Principal has tutored four
senior students who have undertaken a third year of study. The time devoted to this work would
have been spent more economically had the class been larger. It may here be noted that in poin
of numbers the economic basis of the whole establishment is unsound. The anomaly of the position
is that with only 55 pupils, divided into 5 classes of widely varying size and standard, the staff of 5
(including the Principal) is overworked. If the number of pupils were doubled, the classification
remaining the same, the work could be carried out very conveniently with a staff of six, thus reducing
appreciably the cost of education per head of the need for continuity of the scheme through a period of
extraordinary difficulty.

Scheme of Training.
The principal change in the organisation of the school work has been the
institution, as mentioned above, of a ' Preparatory Year ’ for boys below the age at which
students were formerly entered. Even with the three-year course which this system indicates, it is
to be understood that Technical School training cannot be equivalent to full trade apprenticeship
where that is possible. Ideally apprenticeship and school training are complementary, the school
providing educational background and regulated manual training while the commercial workshop
extends the range of trade experience. Without the co operation of progressive industry the Technical
School cannot be of maximum service to the community. Reference has already been made to existing
difficulties in the matter of apprenticeship in the oil industry and elsewhere. It is intended to retain
the present scheme of school training in anticipation of improved industrial conditions after the war.
The cutting off of all supplies of material has still further limited the scope of school workshop
practice. Metal-work has survived only by the use of a limited assortment of scrap metal. Some
timber purchased before local stocks were exhausted has made it possible to continue woodwork
contracts and during the year some good pieces of work have been executed.
MINORS’ DEPARTMENT.
During the year the Department took over the administration of eighteen new estates and dealt
in transactions which amounted to over 3$ lakhs of rupees. The assets of one of the estate cases was
over one lakh of rupees and in another there were over seventy different leases to be dealt with.
Collection of rents from over 450 properties amounted to Rs. 32,000, more than double the sum
which was received in 1361. The department continued to lend money to the public, on interest,
secured by mortgages of gold or title deeds of property. During the year Rs. 1,43,000 was advanced
and Rs. 60,000 was repaid.

Ten properties were sold during the year. It is the policy of the committee to avoid selling
property unless no other course is open but occasionally the income of the estate is insufficient for the
necessary upkeep of part of the property. Six houses and six shops were bought by the department

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