In the above Table the equivalent values are given as near as possible, but generally Foreign moneys are not exactly commensurate with English, as the course of exchange continually varies, affecting consequently the relative values. In these, as in all British Colonial Possessions, English money of every denomination is current. PART VIII. EDUCATION. PRIOR to the establishment of Crown Government in 1866, the public assistance given to the work of Elementary Education in Jamaica took the form first of an annual grant from the Imperial Parliament from emancipation till 1841, and subsequently of a subsidy of £3,000 annually voted by the Island Legislature. These sums were distributed on no fixed principle, and without regard to the size or efficiency of the schools aided and when a new system, depending on payment by results, was introduced by Sir John Peter Grant and Mr. Savage in 1867, the first thorough inspection showed that little or no benefit had accrued from the unsystematic method of awarding grants hitherto followed, for two-thirds of the schools entirely failed to come up to Government standards, and nearly all the rest were placed in the lowest class. Managers and teachers, however, set energetically to work to bring about an improvement, and the steady advance in the number, attendance and efficiency of the schools since that time has been only interrupted by the cyclone of 1880, which destroyed many school-buildings and in other ways threw back the work of education generally all over the island. The figures in the last report of the Superintending Inspector of Schools show an unprecedented advance in attendance, due in the main to the abolition of school fees by the legislature in the spring of 1892, and it is satisfactory to be able to add that this large influx of new material has not appreciably affected the general efficiency of the schools. The following figures will show the progressive advance since 1871 : The following shows the state of education in the island at the date of the taking of the Census in 1881 and 1891 : Can Read and Write Can Read only Total Attending School 1881. 1891. In 1885 a Commission was appointed to consider and report what changes were necessary to be made in the system of elementary education in the colony. This Commission reported in 1886, but it was not till 1892 that two laws were passed in the Legislative Council giving effect to some of its recommendations. The first of these provided for the creation of a Central Board, to be presided over by the Head of the Education Department, whose functions should be mainly advisory, b 308 without whose recommendation no new school should receive aid, nor any change Provision was also made for the payment of be made in the Code of Regulations. a grant in lieu of fees to all schools where fees are not charged; for the enactment by the Governor, in his discretion, on the recommendation of the Board, on, or after the 1st January, 1895, of compulsory attendance at Elementary Schools in such towns or districts as he may designate; for the establishment of small scholarships to assist needy scholars from the Elementary Schools to obtain higher Education in the Secondary Schools; and for the enforcement of a conscience clause similar to the English. The Code then in force was to remain so until altered on the recommendation of the Board. The Secondary Education Law provided for the establishment of Secondary Schools in any important centres declared by the Governor in Privy Council, on the recommendation of the Board, to be without adequate provision for Secondary Education, and for the granting of Scholarships to scholars in such schools to enable the more promising of them to continue their education at High Schools or Colleges. The Central Board of Education has met regularly since its appointment, and was for the first six months, through its Standing Committee and Sub Committees, constantly at work revising the Code. The Revised Code was finally submitted to His Excellency the Governor in February, 1893, and was approved in Privy Council in July of the same year. The following are the chief provisions of the Revised Code: 1. The subjects in which Schools are examined and for which marks or grants are given are the following: Reading Scripture Knowledge Marks. Marks. 6 Reading Recitation and Grammar 1218 Elementary Science 6 Writing Handwriting Geography and History 6 6 618 Organization and Discipline . Needlework The Practical Teaching of Agriculture, Arithmetic on Slate or Paper 12 2. Standards of Classification in these subjects are supplied to all the schools, and all Schools on the Annual Grant List are expected to be classified according to these Standards. The marks given at Inspection are according to the following scale, viz. Little (the lowest average attainment on the part of the school thought worthy of marks at all), one-sixth of the maximum number of marks attainable; Moderate (less unsatisfactory than the foregoing, but still below the minimum standard of efficiency) one-third; Fair, one-half; Good, two-thirds; Very Good, five-sixths; and Excellent, the total maximum number of marks attainable. This latter mark is only given when the school as a whole has attained to the highest degree of proficiency that would be possible under any teaching. 3. The schools are ranked in three classes, according to the number of marks that may be awarded to them at the annual inspections, when the results achieved during the year are measured by the standards, thus : A first class must obtain 56 marks and 8 marks in each of the chief subjects or of the total obtainable. A second class 42 inarks and 6 marks in each of the chief subjects or of total. A third class 28 marks and 4 marks in each of the chief subjects or of total. 4. Grants are made by the Government based on the number of marks obtained by each school, and to some extent also on the average attendance. In schools with an average attendance of 80 or over a grant is given of one pound per mark for the principal Teacher with possible additions for the teaching of drawing, for training Pupil Teachers, and for any excess in the average attendance above 80. In addition to this, grants are made, depending on the average attendance, for the payment of such Assistant Teachers as the school may require; and a grant, fixed for the unit of average attendance, is made for school appliances. A represent per |