53 807 ■schools and for infant schools, a suipplementary course was added to the Bulak Elementary Training College in 1917. The course comprises three parallel sections, for general subjects, domestic science and kindergarten, and extends over two years.

It is attended by forty-four students. A similar addition has recently been made to the college at Alexandria.

The Ministry maintains four girls’ primary schools, attended by 578 girls, as compared with two schools attended by 438 girls in 1814. Primary education for girls has made less progress in the provinces than in Cairo and Alexandria. The Provincial Councils have ten primary schools attended by 1,034 puipils. Few of the schools are full, and there is a large wastage during the course. Six of the schools have boarding sections, and in these there are always more applications for the boarding section than can be accommodated. There are also twenty-three private primary schools under the inspection of the Ministry of Education, having a total attendance of 2,413. Eegulations have been adopted for the award of grants-in-aid to these schools as well as to the Provincial Council schools.

The Sania Training College, which trains teachers for the primary schools and elementary training colleges, is now attended by eighty-two students as compared with forty-eight in 1914. In view of the pressing need for a much larger supply of trained teachers, steps are being taken to secure the rapid expansion of this college.

A girls’ high school, with the nucleus of a secondary department, is to be opened in Cairo after the summer vacation.

Medical inspection in the girls’ schools has been improved by the appointment of a second English lady medical officer and of Egyptian visiting khool-nurses.

33. Technical, Industrial and Commercial Education.

At the outbreak of the war all new schemes and developments under consideration by the Department of Technical Education were pux aside, in response to the demands of the Ministry of Finance for the most stringent economy. It was indeed only with great difficulty that the existing activities of the Department were kept going. School staffs were reduced owing to men being called up or volunteering for active service, and there was a shortage of books and other school necessaries. The model workshops could not obtain raw materials except at largely increased prices and in irregular and insufficient quantities. It is therefore satisfactory to note that the numbers in attendance at the eight schools and model workshops maintained by the Department increased from 1,544 in 1914 to 1,591 in 1918, and that all the trades schools and others inspected or aided were kept going with no loss of numbers.

It was also found possible to reorganise the School of Engineering, and it was decided to add new sections in mechanical, municipal and electrical engineering to the already existing sections of irrigation and architecture. As it was impossible to secure the necessary staff and equipment, the erection of the electrical engineering section was temporarily postponed, but the other two sections made a good beginning In connection with the introduction of higher elementary schools into the elementary education scheme in 1916, classes for instructing teachers in manual work, clay modelling, &c., were held during the summer vacation in 1915-1918, and a permanent section for the training of teachers in such subjects has now been added to the Bulak Technical School.

The problems created by the shortage of materials from abroad aroused considerable interest in the development of Egyptian industry and commerce; and in this connection the Department of Technical Education organised a trades exhibition at Alexandria in August and September 1916, which, was attended by large numbers of people of all classes.

From April 1915 to December 1916 the model workshops and trades schools devoted their engineering sections very largely, and during some periods entirely to work for the military authorities. This work was centralised at the Bulak Model Workshops, which shared the work with the model workshops at Assiout and Mansur a and the majority of the trades schools in Lower Egypt. For several months the engineering sections of the Bulak Model Workshops were working day and night. Large numbers of handgrenades and propellors were made, and during the latter part of 1916, 300 sets of a special form of chain-rails were made for the wheels of heavy military vehicles to enable them to be used for desert traffic. When the Royal Air Force opened its workshops in Egypt the lack of skilled mechanics was severely felt. To minimise this some of the apprentices at the trades schools were allowed to House of Commons Parliamentary Papers Online. Copyright (c) 2006 ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.