Page:Calcutta Review Vol. II (Oct. - Dec. 1844).pdf/323

318 were no schools. Some meet in the Chandi Mandop, which is of the nature of a chapel belonging to some one of the principal families in the village, and in which, besides the performance of religious worship on occasion of the great annual festivals, strangers also are sometimes lodged and entertained, and business transacted; others in the Boithakhana, an open hut principally intended as a place of recreation and of concourse for the consideration of any matters relating to the general interests of the village; others in the private dwelling of the chief supporter of the school; and others have no special place of meeting, unless it be the most vacant and protected spot in the neighbourhood of the master’s abode, such as the corner of a shop—the village temple, more particularly that consecrated to, the judge of the departed, the of Hinduism—an out-house of one of the parents—the portico of a mosque—the verandah of a house, or the shade of a tree. Some schools meet in the open air in the dry seasons of the year; and in the rainy season those boys, whose parents can afford it, erect each for himself a small shed of grass and leaves, open at the sides, and barely adequate at the top to cover one person from the rain. There are usually five or six such sheds, more or less, among all the boys; and those who have no protection, if it rain, must either disperse or remain exposed to the storm. It is evident that the general efficiency and regularity of school business, which are promoted by the adaptation of the school-room to the enjoyment of comfort by the scholars, to full inspection on the part of the teacher, and to easy communication on all sides, must here be in a great measure unknown.”

3. The teachers, their caste, means of support, qualifications, and age.—From time immemorial, the teaching of reading, writing, and accounts has been considered the proper duty of the Kayastha or writer caste, and a Brahman, Vaidya or a Kshetriya, is supposed to degrade himself in such occupation; while, on the other hand, any of the castes inferior to the Kayastha acquire by the same means increased respect. Now, it is true that both in Bengal and Behar the business of teaching common schools is left chiefly in the hands of the Kayasthas or writer caste. But it is true, at the same time, that in the Bengal districts, this hereditary privilege has been very largely invaded by other castes both superior and inferior to the Kayastha, but still so as to leave the latter a decided majority in the class of vernacular teachers; while in the Behar districts this privilege is enjoyed in nearly its pristine completeness. Take the districts of Beerbhoom for an example. There are four Musalman teachers and the remainder are Hindus. The following list exhibits the castes of the latter and the number of each:—