Page:Adam's reports on vernacular education in Bengal and Behar, submitted to Government in 1835, 1836 and 1838.djvu/29

Rh “Before a prisoner can pass the first examination, he must be able—

.—To read the Surajpur kahani, (a Village Tale). .—To repeat the Multiplication Table up to 16 × 16. .—To repeat the Multiplication of Fractions up to 6 × 25.

“The requirements for the second examination are—

.—Repetition of the former examination. .—Arithmetic, including Simple and Compound Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and Division, Calculations for rates, Commission and Simple Interest—(No. II. of Rai Ram Surn Das’ Series, being the text book). .—The Patra Malika, or Letter Writer. .—The Kisam Opdesh; being a brief explanation of the Revenue System and Village Accounts. .—The Shudhi-Darpan, a popular Treatise on Hygiene, explaining the advantages of cleanliness, method and order. .—The Khagol-Sar, a brief Treatise on Astronomy.

“The subject of the third examination is the Mensuration of fields, as contained in Part III. of Rai Ram Surn Das’ Series.

“The subject of the fourth examination is the details of Patwari accounts, as contained in Part IV. of Rai Ram Surn Das’ Series.

“The subjects for the fifth examination are—

.—Arithmetic, including Simple aiad Compound Proportion, as contained in Parts I. and II. of the Ganit Prakash. .—The Gyan Chalish Biburn, being forty moral maxims in verse with explanations and deductions. .—The Gunkari-updesh-ka Sankshep or select moral maxims from the best sources.

“The subjects for the sixth examination are—

.—Fractious as contained in Part II. of the Ganit Prakash. .—Geography.”

Dr. Mouat, Secretary to the Calcutta Council of Education, who saw the system in operation in the Jail, remarks respecting it:—

“The old, the middle-aged, and the young, the murderer confined for life, and the perpetrator of petty larceny, paying the penalty of his offence by a few days or weeks of imprisonment, men and women, have all been subjected to the ordeal. Many who were unacquainted with the alphabet, and to whom the powers of letters in combination had been an unknown mystery, until advancing age had left them scarcely enough of unaided sight to trace the letters on the board, have been taught to spell, read, connect sentences, and write. The greatest amount of general proficiency which has been attained is in the use of figures, and multiplying them to an extent quite unknown to our English system of arithmetic. At all times and in all places is the sound of many voices heard following a leader in the multiplication of odd, even, and fractional numbers. At its appointed time it pervaded every department of the prison, which then resembled a vast, animated, calculating machine. As a means of prison discipline, it appears to me to be impossible to over-rate the value and advantages of this system. It leaves the vicious and ill-disposed no time