The Session 1934 came to a close on November 28th. The industrial work was examined during that month by the Government Inspectress and the report was quite satisfactory. Mr. Mather, Inspector of the scholastic work, informed us that as he was unable to examine the school in person he wished samples of the written work of Standards IV, V, and VI, to be sent to him. Examination papers were set in all subjects and examples of the best, average and poorest papers were forwarded, about seventy in all. The results were tabulated on triplicate forms, one being required at headquarters in Salisbury, the second retained by the Circuit Inspector and one returned to the school. Certificates were awarded to sixteen of the nineteen girls who sat the examination. Two of those who were unsuccessful had come to this school about three months before. Five girls gained certificates in Standard VI and four of them are now teaching in our own schools. The fifth has been in ill health.
Despite the fact that the Inspector required these particulars with regard to the higher standards, far greater importance is attached to the work done in the lower classes, as Standard I at present, is the highest level reached by the majority of the children. A Junior School Syllabus is supplied by the Government and a suggested time-table drafted for each class, which must be followed as closely as possible. In addition to this, each teacher is required to have a week-by-week scheme of work and a detailed record of the work done during the year, all of which are closely examined by the Inspector. These details are given here so that it may be understood how large a part Government regulations play in the education of the children in a Mission School. It is significant in this respect that no private school can be conducted in this colony without the inspection and sanction of the Government, irrespective of the fact that the school may receive no Government subsidy. Native education which until a few years ago was really a side line of the European Education Department, is now entirely carried on by the Department of Native Development. The whole aim of this Department is the uplift of the mass of the people, and higher education is not encouraged, except in a few cases where such individuals will prove useful to this end, as Jeanes Teachers or Community Workers, school teachers, court interpreters, etc. In a school, such as we have here, the scheme of work for the higher groups is drawn up on these principles. All the work done by them, scholastic and industrial, is limited by what will be of practical use to them in their future spheres. The boys are encouraged to remain on the land, and the girls to become successful home-makers.
The number on the roll this year is 190 as compared with 153 last year. This increase may be attributed to the fact that children are coming to school at an earlier age, between six and seven. In this way they should finish here at the age of sixteen or seventeen in contrast to the girls of Standard VI last year whose ages ranged from twenty to twenty-three.
A copy of the Scripture paper set for the last term examination is enclosed. A larger proportion of time is assigned to Religious Instruction than to any other single subject on the Curriculum. In addition, the New Testament is used as the Vernacular Text-book, and the Psalms are memorized in English and the Vernacular.
The Industrial work is being carried on in much the same way as last year. Needlework still holds a prominent place. The older girls are given a higher course in needlework, such as hem-stitching, crotchet, embroidery and bead work. By means of this course we hope that later on, in their own homes, they will be able to earn sufficient to buy such necessities as soap, needles, thread and scissors, which to them are great luxuries. It may interest those who so kindly contribute to the excellent parcels sent out by Mrs. Miller and Miss Sansum to know that over 200 yards of material were used by the girls during the last six months of 1934, while all the scraps and oddments were most gratefully received at the Friday Patching Class. We wish to thank all the friends at home for their continued thoughtfulness.
The boys have been taught elementary woodwork, the making of wooden spoons, ox skeys, axe handles, etc., from native wood. With the exception of pocket knives their implements are very primitive. They bring their own small axes, made from hoop iron. Except as curios, the products have no market value but are very useful to them, and in their making tend towards manual skill. An excellent opportunity for an educational “project” is being provided in the building of the new houses by Mr. Tallach. The boys witnessed the laying of the foundation, and the erection of the walls, while they themselves made a contribution of small bricks to be used for the interior walls. Now the girls are plastering the walls outside and in, with clay, and with wooden mallets will soon beat the daga floors to a smooth polished surface. The provision of grass floor mats, water pots, and curtains will occupy the girls for some time. It is not only that they acquire a skill in making these simple furnishings, but many of them will be confronted with a new idea, that of home-making. The African’s hut is a shelter where he sleeps at night on a skin or mat. His life is spent out of doors. All the simple arrangements that constitute home-life are absent, for example, no one thinks of preparing an early meal for the man who leaves home in the morning, or for the children who go to school.
One would like to persuade the people at home, if persuasion is necessary, of the light and happiness brought into the lives of those children who come from heathen kraals to school. We have many evidences within reach of us here that girls carry with them many of the ideas they have met with on the Mission, and that as far as possible they put them into practice where they live.
All the Europeans, in addition to the native staff at the Mission, take a keen interest in the school and each contributes his share towards the work done there. Dr. Macdonald continues to take the classes in Hygiene and First Aid, while the Jeanes teacher is giving a series of simple Nursing Demonstrations.
Mr. MacGillivray and the friends whom he has enlisted in providing the school with many kinds of writing and reading materials have our sincere gratitude. The arrival of the promised Kindergarten materials will meet a new demand made on our equipment by the attendance of so many more children of Kindergarten age.