on "Rudiments of Knowledge," by Messrs. Chambers. The Bengali indeed mentions the existence of God, but it omits the following: "It is our duty to love God and to pray to him, and thank him for all his mercies." The original contains the following: "When a body is dead, all its life is gone. It cannot see or feel, or move; it is an inanimate object, and is so unpleasing to look upon, that it is buried in the ground, where it rots into dust, and is no more seen on earth. But although the bodies of mankind die and are buried, they have SOULS which live for ever, and which are given up to God who gave them." The passage in italics, referring to a future state, has been omitted. The translation merely states that the body is buried or burnt on the funeral pile. The Bengali omits a paragraph teaching that men are "responsible or accountable beings, because they have souls, which are accountable to God for actions done during life." But the translator, besides omitting passages, has in one important instance altered the original. The English edition has the following: "By exercising or making use of all our senses, and remembering to the best of our ability what we see and what we hear, we gain experience, and are better able to take care of ourselves. Thus, the senses are of very great use to us. They are like roads or avenues, by which knowledge reaches the mind; and without them, we should be in a state of total ignorance." The Bengali version of the above was thus translated by a native who knew nothing whatever of the object for which it was wanted. The general heading is "The Senses": : "The above five senses are the avenues of our knowledge, by which we can get all sorts of knowledge, and without which we should be ignorant of every thing. By the exercise of those senses we gain experience and experience produces the power of judgment of what is right and wrong, and what is good and bad. Therefore the senses are very advantageous to us." Such teaching tends to spread the materialistic opinions, which, it is to be feared, are rapidly making way among the educated classes. An examination of the English Reading Books prepared for Government Schools in India seems to confirm the following opinion expressed by an Inspector in Bengal: "The subject of class books for middle and lower classes of higher class English Schools has been brought a good deal under my notice. during the past year. No set of books yet published either by, the School Book Society or by private persons seems to me to meet the object for which they are put forth. The selections for reading are either too difficult in language, or too childish in subject, or too much concerned with European thought and feeling, to be fitted for the youths of this country. The hand-books, too, of geography and history are, as a rule, very meagre in information and expressed in language beyond the comprehension of those who have to study them. A set of books of this class, carefully selected and compiled and published under the sanction of the Director of Public Instruction, would produce general uniformity in Schools, and be of very great advantage to the student."* The Director of Public Instruction, Punjab, says of the textbooks used in that part of India : "Those in English are not well adapted to the taste or comprehension of boys in this country; being compiled for England only, they are not only full of allusions quite foreign to all native experience, but never by any chance touch on subjects likely to awaken an interest in the Punjab." § 123. The Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab remarks in his review of the last Public Instruction Report: "The whole series of English Readers' is susceptible of the greatest improvement."+ PROPOSED NEW SERIES OF READING BOOKS. Evidence has been adduced to show that existing Reading Books printed at home are not considered to be satisfactory even in England. A fortiori, they are unfit for India. The efforts made to supply the want in India, do not fully meet the case. There seems an urgent call therefore for the Government of India to secure the preparation of a series expressly adapted to the country and including the latest educational improvements. A few suggestions may be offered respecting the contents. The general principles on which school books should be prepared have already been stated. The remarks under each head will simply refer to details. Elements of Reading. Some years ago the writer consulted the late Deau Dawes about the improvement of education in India. One advice was, "Begin at the bottom and work upwards." This rule may certainly be applied with advantage to the preparation of Reading Books. One of the educational reforms most urgently required in India is a better mode of teaching to read. Not only is a great *Bengal Public Instruction Report, for 1869-70, Ap. A., pp. 234, 245. amount of time wasted by old methods, but the pupils acquire the habit of reading without paying any attention to the sense. The former system of teaching reading in England and the present system in native schools in India, are very much alike. In England, it was the same as that now followed in the elementary books used in Bengal, viz., the alphabet and combinations, ba, be, &c., ab, ac, &c., bla, ble, &c. In the vernacular schools, the alphabet is first taught, and then the consonants combined with vowels, as ka, ki, &c. The above course is a great drudgery to a child. Nor is this the only objection. Dunn says: "The great evil of putting before children unmeaning combinations of letters, such as 'bla, ble, bli, blo, blu,' and all the rest of this ridiculous tribe, is, that in reading them, a habit is formed of separating the sight and sound of words from sense, a habit which frequently cleaves to the mind long after the days of childhood have passed away. Educationists are now agreed that the best course is "divide and conquer." Instead of beginning with the alphabet, a short easy word, like no, go, is taken. It is easily recollected as being familiar. It may be written on the black-board or taught by sheets, or by, what perhaps is best, moveable letters. The child should be taught to read the word by the phonic method i. e., giving the sounds of the letters, not their names. Next, according to the excellent native practice, the word should be written. At first each child should write it on the blackboard. This prevents the hasty scrawling of a great many misshapen letters. Each character is judged of and talked of, as it is formed, and there is a greater desire to take pains.† By concentrating attention upon two letters, they are easily mastered. The child is pleased, for he feels that he is making progress. Other words may be taken up similarly, till all the letters of the alphabet have been acquired. Then, but not till then, the alphabet may be taught in regular order. In the vernacular languages, the vowel combinations should come next. Instead of teaching k combined with all the vowels, the vowel a should be taught combined with the consonants. Here simple words should be used, bālā, &c. The syllabary should not be taught. The joined letters are the greatest difficulty in the Sanskritderived languages. By classification, the labour of acquiring * Principles of Teaching, p. 79. + Mrs. Tuckfield. Several years ago, Professor Jarrett proposed that they should be done away with, just as the numerous contractions in old Greek MSS. are no longer used. This useful reform is perhaps in advance of the present age. them may be greatly abridged. Some follow each other; others are written below, &c. Each class should be taught separately by words containing examples of them. There should also be reading exercises upon them. The joined letters should not all be taught at once. The writer has not seen any Government Vernacular School Book prepared fully on the above principles. The Tamil First Book exactly follows the native method. In the case of some other languages, a few improvements have been introduced. A great boon would be conferred on schools by the publication of SHEET LESSONS, similar to those used at home. They are much preferable to books for beginners. The attention of all the children can be secured, while they can be made to read words in any order. Children can often repeat their lessons by heart, while they cannot read them. It must be admitted that the Sheet Lessons would not be popular at first with ignorant schoolmasters. It is not the custom to teach in that way. There is another reason-it involves more labour.* According to the old method, the children sing the letters of the alphabet, while the teacher sits at his But the benefits would gradually be seen and they would come into use. ease. The writer is not urging a want which has already been supplied. An examination of the Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras Government Catalogues shows that vernacular Sheet Lessons are not included. This is one proof that education in India requires to be thoroughly investigated. With regard to elementary lessons in reading, Lord Northbrook's resolution expresses the right course: "The contents of the book taught shall be as much as possible within easy range of the pupil's comprehension and ordinary experience." When some facility in reading has been gained, the child's vocabulary should be enlarged by the acquisition of new words. Preservation of Health. The importance of instruction in this has already been shown. It will best be secured by a graduated series of lessons in the Reading Books. While a separate Manual on the subject should be prepared for teachers and Government Officers whose duties. require them to attend to sanitary measures, it cannot be expected to be studied in schools. Besides, even if it were introduced, it would be read only by a few in the upper classes. * In the London International Exhibition of 1871, the Oudh Government exhibited a "Clay model of a Mahomedan Indigenous School, with the master in a recum bent position smoking." As some children never get beyond the First Book, it should contain sentences like the following: "Breathe pure air and drink pure water. Keep your body and dress clean. Filth is the father of disease. Vaccination keeps away small-pox." They would form texts on which the teacher might enlarge. The succeeding Books should contain more and more details. The following are some of the subjects which might be noticed :Lessons on the Structure of the Body. Need of fresh Air and pure Water. Advice about Food and Dress. Importance of Cleanliness. Value of Exercise. Advice about Houses and their surroundings.* Treatment and prevention of Fever. Precautions against Cholera. Snake-bites, advice about Accidents. Management of Children (for girls' schools). Early marriages are a great obstacle to the improvement of the physique of the people. In some parts of the country there is a change for the better in this respect. A Bengali newspaper remarks: : "We have not quite such baby marriages as we used to have before... Our readers will recollect that, the question as to what age should be fixed upon for converting a girl into a wife was referred for medical opinion, and that the replies received fixed the age about 16. This is still too early. The period should be later, for unless we have strong Mammas and Papas we cannot expect to have strong babas." Some advice may be given on this subject in an appropriate form. Teachers should encourage their pupils to engage in active games. Mr. Woodrow has the following remarks on this subject: "Cricket has been tried at several places, and sometimes a decent eleven has been trained; but the whole thing depends on the energy of some one European teacher, and when he leaves, the cricket club collapses. Cricket is not indigenous in India, and exists among Bengali boys as an exotic plant which shrivels up in the first adverse wind. "It would, I think, be well, if instead of introducing European athletic exercises and European games, we encouraged genuine Native games and sports. European games, even the glorious game of cricket, are looked upon by some Hindu gentlemen with suspicion, as being *When Sir Madhava Rao was Dewan of Travancore, he offered a prize for the best design for a villager's house. |