Annual report on Brunei / Colonial Office.

  • Colonial Office
Date:
[1951]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report on Brunei / Colonial Office. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    43/94 page 37
    Brunei Chinese schools teach the conventional school subjects superimposed on the background of their own culture. The medium of instruction in most is Mandarin. The subjects taught are: arithmetic; general knowledge; civics; physical training; games and handwork. English as a subject is added in the third year. History, geography and Science complete the Higher Primary curriculum. The teaching of English in Chinese schools is handicapped bv two things (a) shortage of teachers qualified to teach it, and (b) insufficient time is devoted to it. The two larger schools, however, improved their staffs in respect of (a) this year and the standard of their English improved considerably. There is still, however, the question of the time which should be devoted to the subject in an already crowded timetable. Some schools did increase the number of daily sessions this year; but even so, still more time is necessary, especially for oral work. At the moment some schools are inclined to neglect this important aspect of language teaching and the result is, that although students are able to read fairly well, they are very weak in conversation and in understanding the spoken word. Most of the Chinese schools are well on the way to over¬ coming their post war problems; but nearly all are still experiencing staffing difficulties. These difficulties are not so much in respect of a shortage of staff, but in respect of the frequent changing of staff which goes on. Continuity of service of the staff is an important factor in the running and progress of any educational establishment, especially among teachers in lower classes, where the personality of the teacher counts so much. Small children take some time to get used to a teacher; in fact a teacher at these levels takes some time to know and understand his or her charges. Continual chopping and changing, therefore, should, if possible, be avoided. One or two Chinese schools are still pinched for accommo¬ dation, but efforts are being made to remedy this. The Chung Hwa School, Kuala Belait, is the best housed of the larger Chinese schools, and the school authorities are deserving of great praise for their enterprise in putting up new buildings. They are solidly built, airy, and open to a good inflow of sunlight. The Chung Cheng School, Seria, also improved its accommodation during the year; but the greater part of the school is still poorly housed. The management, however, intends to build a new school in the near future and a new site has been obtained. The site, incidentally, was given to the school by Government. All the Chinese schools were inspected during the year, and varying degrees of progress were reported. All, in fact, made good headway. The thanks of the Brunei Education Department are hereby tendered to the Director of Education, Sarawak, for his kind gesture in sending a Chinese Inspector from Kuching, to assist m the inspections. The co-operation of the headmasters of the schools during these inspections is also gratefully acknow¬ ledged. Boy Scouts, dire Brunei Branch of the Boy Scouts Associa¬ tion is comprised of two local associations. The patron of the Branch is His Highness the Sultan; and the Chief Scout, His Excellency the High Commissioner.
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3