Page 178 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (III)_Neat

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ioo boys. Staff salaries and allowances constitute about 88 per cent, of the working expenses of the
school. This figure will remain abnormally high so long as the majority of the teachers come from
abroad at considerable expense and have to be employed uncconomically in teaching very small
classes and groups.
Revenue from contract work carried out in the school workshops (to the approximate value of
Rs. 4,ooo during the year under review) does little more than compensate for the cost of materials
used and the wages of employees, the latter including workmen-instructors and a variable number of
ex-pupils in the capacity of probationer-workmen. The object of the commercial side of the work­
shop activities, however, is not so much to make profit as to influence instruction in the direction of
real trade practice.

General.
Steady improvement in the teaching of class subjects is largely due to the encouraging efforts
of the Head Teacher. Progress on the academic side is much limited by the rather poor standard of
intelligence of most of the boys who offer themselves for technical training. Class lessons are confined
to the subjects of practical mathematics, drawing, English 1 and elementary trade technology, with
the addition of Arabic and some general knowledge in the Preparatory Classes.

Of the workshop activities woodwork is the least restricted by shortage of materials and more
pupils are choosing woodwork as their trade, probably because of improved employment prospects.
The largest contract carried out during the year was for the making of residential quarters furniture
(to the value of Rs. 2,500) for the British Overseas Airways Corporation. On the mechanical and
metalwork side it is more difficult to provide a sufficient range of work. A number of small fitting,
turning and blacksmithing jobs from the Royal Naval Base and elsewhere have provided a useful
variant from conventional exercises. The long overdue installation of welding equipment would
increase enormously the usefulness of the engineering shop and extend the range of the pupils'
experience.

Workshop activity and games appear to have a beneficial effect on the growth and general
health of the boys as they pass through the school. The prevalence of defective vision noticeably
affects the standard of craftsmanship. While there have been few cases of serious illness among
those who have attended the school for any considerable length of time, a number of new entrants
left after a short attendance because they were physically unfit for sustained work.

The school is indebted to the Education Department for extending to pupils and teachers
many of its recreational and cultural facilities and for the use of the residential hostel by a number of
Technical School boarders.
MINORS* DEPARTMENT.

{From the report oj the Superintendent of the Minors' Department, Mr. MOHAMED Dowaicer).
The Department continued to deal with the affairs and the estates which were entrusted to
its charge under the superintendence of a committee presided over by Shaikh Daij Shaikh Hamad
and his deputy Shaikh Ali bin Khalifah bin Daij. This department which to a certain extent under­
takes duties similar to those of a Public Trustee is paid for from Government funds and at present
no fees are charged for the administration of the estates which it controls. The annual cost to the
Government is about Rs.12,000, this represents the salaries of the Superintendent and the clerical
staff, the members of the committee give their services freely.
The department dealt with 14 new estates during the year which included the estates of the
heirs of certain people who lost their lives in fatal accidents and whose heirs were compensated by
the Bahrain Petroleum Company. Distribution of compensation was carried out through the
department.