Page 244 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (III)_Neat

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THE TECHNICAL SCHOOL.
The Technical School during most of the year was under the supervision of Mr. Said Tabbara,
the Headmaster of the school.
Although the school, with its present teaching staff, could eater for about ioo boys, the number
of boys at school during the term was 27. The same difficulty has been found in the Technical School
as in the other schools ; as soon as the boys have acquired a small amount of training and experience
they leave school and begin earning money either as bazaar carpenters or working in the garages or
at Awali. The conditions in the labour market throughout the year have made it easy for any boy or
young man of moderate intelligence with a slight amount of education to find well paid work. None
of the boys, or their parents, realise that if they stay the course and become proficient they can even­
tually fill better paid posts than the temporary employment which so many of them have obtained on
leaving school.
Technical training is still regarded by the Arabs as a humble way of earning a livelihood and
only the sons of poor parents enter the Technical School; work of the type which is taught in the
school is regarded as being on a par with agriculture and in Bahrain no Arab ever works in a garden,
the cultivators are entirely Shia Bahama and Hassawis. The course at the Technical School lasts
three years, and few parents are willing to allow their sons to spend three years at school when there
is money to be earned. When labour conditions revert to normal the situation will change.
The school programme that was carried out in the previous year was continued during 1364
with the addition of elementary lessons in the theory of electricity. A new branch was started by
the introduction of hand-looms and number of boys were taught weaving. They produced some good
material which was dyed and woven in the school.
There were no changes in the staff. The health of the boys was good and they were visited
regularly by one of the Government doctors.
Boys from the school paid visits to the oil fields and to the Government Power House and
Garage.
At the annual exhibition of work done by girls in the Government schools the Technical School
exhibited furniture, metal work and woven materials, all of which were bought by the public.
Payments amounting to over Rs. 6,000 were received for special orders carried out by the school
which included furniture for the British Overseas Airways Corporation.

PASSPORT DEPARTMENT.
[Report by Mr. Ibrahim Khalfan, Passport Officer.)
;!
The revenue for 1364 was Rs. 19,650, the highest amount that has been collected during the
last seven years. The principal source of this income was from book passports, 842 of these being
issued during the year, and travel passes, of which 1418 were issued to Bahrain nationals. As in the
previous year many Shias took out passports in order to visit the Holy cities of Iraq or Persia but not
all of them made use of their passports, about 300 men and women went to Iraq and only 36 persons
made the pilgrimage to Mecca. Some of these went to Egypt by air and then proceeded to the Hejaz.
The number of passengers who landed in Bahrain was 24,913, which was made up as follows :—
Sea passengers (native craft) 19.239
„ „ (steamers) .. 3.809
Air 1,865
The reduction of the number of the B.I. steamers in the Gulf is partly responsible for the large
proportion of passengers who now travel between the Gulf ports in launches and dhows. During the
year 372 Persian divers, indebted to Bahrain nakhudas, were allowed to visit Bahrain for the diving
season.