Page:The despatch of 1854, on General education in India.djvu/24

Rh valued far less by those who receive it than one for which some payment, however small, is made, but that the payment induces a more regular attendance, and greater exertion, on the part of the pupils; and, for this reason, as well as because school fees themselves, insignificant as they may be in each individual instance, will, in the aggregate, when applied to the support of a better class of masters, become of very considerable importance we desire that grants in aid shall, as a general principle, be made to such schools only (with the exception of normal schools) as require some fee, however small, from their scholars.

55. Careful consideration will be required in framing rules for the administration of the grants; and the same course should be adopted in India which has been pursued with obvious advantage by the Committee of Council here, namely, to appropriate the grants to specific objects, and not (except, perhaps, in the case of normal schools) to apply them in the form of simple contributions in aid of the general expenses of a school. The augmentation of the salaries of the head teachers, and the supply of junior teachers, will probably be found in India, as with us, to be the most important objects to which the grants can ordinarily be appropriated. The foundation, or assistance in the foundation, of scholarships for candidates from lower schools, will also be a proper object for the application of grants in aid. In some cases, assistance towards erecting, or repairing, a school, or the provision of an adequate supply of school books, may be required; but the appropriation of the grant in each particular instance should be regulated by the peculiar circumstances of each school and district.

56. The amount, and continuance of the assistance given will depend upon the periodical reports of inspectors, who will be selected with special reference to their possessing the confidence of the native communities. In their periodical inspections, no notice whatsoever should be taken by them of the religious doctrines which may be taught in any school; and their duty should be strictly confined to ascertaining whether the secular knowledge conveyed is such as to entitle it to consideration in the distribution of the sum which will be applied to grants in aid. They should