Page:Adam's reports on vernacular education in Bengal and Behar, submitted to Government in 1835, 1836 and 1838.djvu/28

14 Provinces”. Sixteen thousand five hundred of Mr. Thomason Elementary Treatises were sold.

In 1850, the Lieutenant-Governor obtained the sanction of the Home authorities to a plan for the extension and more perfect supervision of Vernacular Education. It was proposed to afford an education suited to the wants of the agricultural classes, and hopes of permanent success were drawn from the following considerations:—

"“There are few of the agricultural classes who are not possessed of some rights of property in the soil. In order to explain and protect these rights, a system of registration has been devised, which is based on the Survey made at the time of settlement, and which annually shews the state of the property. It is necessary for the correctness of this register, that those whose rights it records should be able to consult it, and to ascertain the nature of the entries affecting themselves. This involves a knowledge of reading and writing, of the simple rules of arithmetic, and of land measurement. The means are thus afforded for setting before the people the practical bearing of learning on the safety of the rights in land, which they most highly prize, and it is hoped that when the powers of the mind have once been excited into action, the pupils may often be induced to advance further, and to persevere till they reach a higher state of intellectual cultivation.”"

But the most remarkable results have been witnessed in the Agra Jail under Dr. Walker: he began first in the Mainpuri Jail, teaching the prisoners to read from immense alphabet rolls, and to write on the black board. He next introduced his plan in 1851 into the Agra Prison. The Inspector of Prisons has reported of it—“Nothing is so conducive to the improvement of discipline as jail education.” The system of mutual instruction is adopted. They are engaged at reading, writing, and arithmetic from half-past four to half-past six Two thousand receive daily instruction, at an avergeaverage [sic] annual expense of six annas a head, or 2 pice a month! Dr. Walker gives the following account of his system:—

“To test the progress of the prisoner-pupils, voluntary examinations are held twice a month, when those who pass satisfactorily, receive as prizes the books required for the subsequent examination, and as an incentive to future application, they are furnished with certificates of good conduct, which entitles them to send a letter to their relatives and friends, and if presented on any Saturday morning within three months after date, to an interview; sometimes a little sweetmeat and fruit is distributed, and a bath in the river Jumna; or a visit to the Royal Gardens at the Taj, or Secundra, is permitted, as an additional incentive to study and good conduct.

“After having mastered the Elementary School Sheets, including the Alphabet, and the combination of the Letters, Proper Names, the Multiplication Table, and Tables of Money and Weights, &c., they are prepared for the first examination.