132 A summary of the statistics for the years 1914-1919 for the Sharia Courts shows the increase of work :— 1914.

Suite heard Proof of heirship Ish-hadat . Total fees ., .. 10,272 .. I 855 .. t 4,748 £ i 8,644 191'5. I 1916. I 1917. I 1918. 1919.

10,179 719 4,193 3,414 10,328 852 4,545 4,392 11,167 1,035 4,430 4,892 12,075 1,409 4,964 0,799 12,205 1,314 5.489 5,200 IX.—EDUCATION.

The director reports that work has proceeded steadily in spite of the difficulties of stajff and material.

The educational work of Government has been confined to the northern half of the Soudan, in which the vast majority of the people are Muslims; the only schools among the pagan tribe of the south are those conducted by missionary societies. In the northern provinces Government is endeavouring, firstly, to spread the barest elements of knowledge among the settled inhabitants by opening elementary vernacular schools in the principal local centres; secondly, to teach English and ordinaiy school subjects to a limited number of the sons of officials and local notables by establishing primary schools in six of die larger towns; thirdly, to give a inore advanced general coui’se and special training of a professional character in teaching, engineering and Mohammedan law, through the agency of a small English and Egyptian stall in the Upper School of the Gordon College.

The English staff of the Gordon College, which was originally small in number, was reduced in 1914, but, though no real expansion has therefore been possible in this sphere, no ground has been lost.

The pre-war provision for primary education, which meets a limited demand only, appears to be still adequat the number of boys in attendance has increased and the standard has been more fhan maintained. In the sphere of elementary vernacular education, on the other hand, a steadily increasing output of Soudantrained teachers has resulted in real progress, both qualitative and quantitative, and this part of the work, which is the foundation of all the rest, was never so advanced as it is' to-day.

Increased attention has been paid in every grade of school to the health and physical culture of the boys by way of medical examinations and treatment, by instruction in elementary %giene and by the further development of games. The Boy Scouts movement has been started very successfully both in Khartoum and Wad Medani.

The instructional workshops in Kliartoum and Omdurman for the training of artisans have had to contend with special difficulties throughout the war, both tools and raw materials having been hard to come by, but all the sections in these workshops are full.

The attitude of the people towards girls’ education has changed very much for the better, but want of funds and staff has prevented Government from availing itself of this change; the Government*has five elementary girls’ schools in .the provinces, but the only higher girls’ schools are managed oy missionaries, English, American and Austrian.

The educational work of the different missionary societies in the southern provinces has naturally been affected adversely by the war. The Church Missionary Society has opened two or three small district schools in Mongalla province, but has not yet been able to open the central school which has been planned for some years. The Soudan United Mission (Australian) hopes shortly to open a school in the Nuba mountains; the Italian missionaries continue to do good work in the Bahr-el-Ghazal province, and the American missionaries have a small school in the Upper Nile province.

During 1919 there has been a considerable increase in the number of pupils attending elementary vernacular schools. No new schools were opened in 1919, but four are projected for 1920.

There has been no expansion in primary education, but satisfactory progress is being made.

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