Page 241 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (III)_Neat

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The threo young Bahrain teachers who were sent to the Abdulaziz Teachers' Training School
in Cairo returned after completing their special short course at the beginning of the school term. One
of the three was made headmaster of the New Primary School in Manamah and the other two were
posted in Muharraq and Hedd. The teachers seem to have benefited much by the course.
Local feeling is not averse to foreign teachers in fact the public has an inclination to regard any­
thing that is imported as being superior to the local article though all people from abroad are not
necessarily more talented than some of the people of the country. It would be more satisfactory and
has always been one of the aims of the Education Department that young men from Bahrain should
eventually fill all the senior posts in the schools as well as the junior posts which they now hold. In
time it should be possible to achieve this aim but at present a leavening of foreign toachcrs is necessary.
Secondary School.—The Secondary School suffered something of an eclipse when the new
school term began. In the previous term there were about 50 boys at school in three classes and the
average age was between 15 and 16. It was hoped that a fourth class would be added.
At the beginning of the present term 16 of the boys were sent to Cairo to join the six boys who
were already there. Several boys were sent by their parents to schools abroad, some left in order to
enter their fathers’ offices, some obtained well paid posts in Bahrain and only ten remained at school.
Twenty-eight new boys moved up from the Primary schools and the average age became 13-14 years.
Instead of the school expanding it was reduced from three grades to two grades, new boys and old
boys. The boys are keen and intelligent and it is unfortunate that so many of them should have left
school before completing the course.
There is the same problem in all the schools. As soon as boys are old enough to earn money
they leave school and easily find well paid employment. Boys from poor homes are taken away from
school by their parents, whether they themselves want to stay on at school or not. The parents, who
are usually illiterate, do not appreciate that a boy with a completed education has ultimately a higher
earning value. The problem is tied up with the present labour situation, as long as there is a demand
for labour few boys who can work will stay at school unless they belong to the wealthy classes. Another
tendency is for parents to send younger children to school, infants five years old are brought by older
brothers. This in most cases does not arise from the parents' desire that their children should learn
but from a desire to keep the children out of the way and out of mischief, the school in fact is regarded
as a creche.
Cairo Students.—Sixteen boys from the Secondary School were sent to Egypt for higher
education in October. Six boys were already in Cairo, three of them being from the Technical School.
It was intended that they should eventually work as teachers in the Bahrain schools. Eight of the
parents, some of them wealthy men, reluctantly agreed to pay £50 each for their sons, which covered
the cost of their clothes and pocket money, two parents agreed to pay £25 and the remaining six
paid nothing, because they were poor. The cost to the Government was about £4°° annum for
each boy.
A Bahrain hostel was opened in Cairo and furnished and equipped by the British Council, at
the expense of the Bahrain Government. The Council undertook the care and supervision of the
students. This educational experiment is being watched with considerable interest by the Bahrain
Arabs who in the past, when they have sent their sons to schools abroad sent them to the Bcyrout
University where at present a group of Bahrain boys are being educated. It is remarkable that when
parents send their boys to be educated abroad of their own accord, they do not grudge paying the
fees but if the boys are sent through the auspices of the Government they expect the cost to be borne
by the Government.
The HosteL—The hostel was full throughout the year and it will require enlarging before the
beginning of the next term. It is run as much as possible on the lines of a boarding school. Iho
boys are well fed, they have regular exercise and medical attention. They are under the direct super­
vision of the warden and the resident masters and are subject to discipline. This has resulted in a
noticeable improvement in their physique and in their manners and behaviour and should have a
lasting effect on their future outlook on life as they arc learning things which cannot be taught to Arab