Page 41 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (III)_Neat

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A new spirit is evident among the pupils and staff. The school is looked upon with pride and
all are keen to suggest, introduce and carry out improvements. A debating club has been instituted,
games arc well organised, picnics and outings are arranged and the first number of a school magazine
is in preparation.
The public are beginning to take an interest in the schools. The first Monday in the month
is set aside for visitors. Any one wishing to see the school may do so. Normal work is not
interrupted. Articles are published regularly in the local newspaper and broadcast from the radio
station keeping the public informed of what is happening in the schools.

On the 22nd Jamad Al Awal (18th May 1942) the boys of the Secondary School gave a play
entitled " Salah Al Din and Richard the Lion Heart.” This was the first time that a play has been
given entirely by school boys. It was a great success. Rs. 2,001 was raised and presented to the
Persian Gulf Fighter Fund.
Early in the year four school boys from Muscat were sent to study at the Bahrain Secondary
School and to live in the hostel. Formerly they had been at school in Baghdad. They did not take
kindly to the discipline of the hostel and declared themselves too advanced to study at the school.
After causing considerable trouble they were sent back to Muscat. As is so often the case, life in
Baghdad had so spoilt them that they will always be discontented.

Manamah Primary School. The first four classes are in duplicate with an average of over
40 boys in each section. Class 5 has 49 pupils. The maximum in any class is 86. The school was
built for eight classes. Two passages and the central hall are now being used as classrooms owing to
lack of space. It is now necessary to divide it into two separate schools.
Muharraq Primary School. A kindergarten class of 40 was started in Ramadhan. Instead
of the usual benches and desks four children sit at each table. Apparatus for teaching is being made
by the staff and the director. Classes 1—4 are in duplicate. The maximum number in any class is 40.
Hedd Primary SchooL A kindergarten section of class I has been started here too but owing
to lack of space they share a classroom with class I. The maximum number in any class is 40.
Repairs were made to this school in the Autumn. The surrounding wall was completed and
one of the classrooms enlarged. All the rooms are small and badly lit.

Village Schools. Two new rooms have been added to Sooq Alkhamis School and a passage
(formerly used as a classroom) converted into a Head Master’s Room. This has vastly improved the
building.

At Sitra the single room used last year has been divided into two and two additional classrooms
and a Head Master’s room have been built. A latrine has also been provided.
At Budeya two of the existing rooms have been partitioned off making five classrooms in all.
A latrine has been built there too.

No extension was made at Rafaa school. A partition was put in one classroom. As yet there
is no Head Master’s room.
A station waggon daily takes the staff to the Sooq Alkhamis, Rafaa and Sitra schools. All
Budeya staff now live near the school. The schools’ doctor visits each of the schools twice a week,
with the exception of Budeya owing to transport difficulties.

Staff. During the year a Palestinian teacher was dismissed for using physical violence on
pupils. At the end of the summer term two other Palestinians resigned for family reasons. This
left two of the original 8 Palestinians recruited in 1940. A Palestinian from Kuwait, a Syrian from
Syria and a Persian from Iraq were engaged for the Secondary School at the beginning of the new
term.