Schools, 1881-82

IN 1881-82 there were seventy-seven Government and five inspected schools, [The five school supported by the for state are at Pali, Nadsar, Atone, Jambulpada, and Siddheshvar.] or an average of one school for every twelve inhabited villages alienated as well as Government, with 5021 names on the roll and average daily attendance of 3611 pupils or 9.30 per cent of 51,377, the total male population between five and fourteen years of age.

Cost.

Exclusive of superintendence the expenditure on these schools amounted to £2202 (Rs. 22,020), of which £765 (Es. 7650) were debited to Government and £1487 (Rs. 14,370) to local municipal and other funds.

Staff.

Under the Director of Public Instruction and the Education Inspector Central Division, in 1881-82, the schooling of the district was conducted by a local staff 158 strong. Of these one was an assistant to the deputy educational inspector of Thana, drawing a yearly salary of £90 (Rs. 900); the rest were masters and assistant masters of schools with salaries ranging from £6 to £48 (Rs. 60-Rs.480).

Instruction.

Of the eighty-two Government and aided schools Marathi was taught in seventy-seven and Hindustani in five. Of the Marathi schools two were girls' schools.

Private Schools.

Before Government took the education of the district under their care, every large village had a school, kept generally by a Brahman, and attended both by boys and girls under twelve years of age. Since the introduction of state education these private schools have suffered. Few of them have been able to compete with the Government schools and except in some of the towns and large villages most have been closed. In 1881-82 there were twenty private schools with an attendance of 426 pupils. The teachers in these schools are indifferently educated. Their strongest point is their skill in teaching the ujalnis or multiplication tables and the elementary rules of arithmetic. Their teaching of reading and writing is less successful. They are not hereditary schoolmasters; as a rule they are men who have failed to get other employment. They are not paid by fixed fees, but depend on what the parents and guardians choose to give them. In addition to entrance fees they levy small fortnightly contributions and receive occasional presents. The entrance fee, which is offered to the teacher in the name of Sarasvati the goddess of learning, varies from 3d. (2 annas) for the poor to 2s. (Re. 1).for the well-to-do. When a boy has finished his multiplication table or ujalni course and is taught to write on paper, the teacher gets from 1½ d. to 2s. (anna 1-Re.1). On the last day of each half of every Hindu month, the pupils, except the very poorest, take to their teachers from a quarter of a pound to a pound of rice. Parents who are friendly or are pleased with their children's progress present the teacher on their son's thread and marriage ceremonies with a turban or a pair of waistcloths. From all these sources a private teacher's yearly earnings vary from £3 to £7 (Rs. 30-Rs. 70). The children go to their teacher's house, and, as his house is often small, the pupils may be seen in the morning and evening along the side of the street, in front of the door, working at their sums or shouting their tables. The position of the masters, and the religious element in some of their teaching, help them in their competition with the purely secular instruction given in state schools. The course of study in these schools is soon finished and the boys generally leave their teachers before they are twelve.

Progress, 1840-1880.

The following figures show the increased means for learning to. read and write provided by Government during the last thirty-nine years. The first Government vernacular school was opened at Mahad in 1840. Sixteen years later, in 1856, a second school was opened at Nagothna. Five years later nine more schools were opened, three in Alibag, two in Mahad, two in Mangaon, one in Pen, and one in Roha. The number of schools rose from eleven in 1862 to thirty-four in 1866. In 1870-71 there were fifty-nine Government schools, with 3413 names on the rolls, and an average attendance of 2556. In 1881 -82 there were eighty-two schools with 5021 names on the rolls, and an average daily attendance of 3611. That is, during the last twenty-five years an increase in the number of schools from  two to eighty-two.

Girls School

In 1861 the first girls' school was opened at Alibag. In 1879-80 it had eighty-two names on the rolls, with an average attendance of thirty-nine pupils.

Readers and Writers.

For the three chief classes in the district the 1881 census returns give the following details of persons able to read and write. Of 861,281, the Hindu population, 4036 (males 8937, females 99) or 1.11 percent below fifteen and 783 (males 776, females 7) or 0.21percent above fifteen were under instruction; 565 (males 534, females 31) or 0-15 per cent below fifteen and 10,562 (males 10,481, females 81) or 2.92 per cent above fifteen were instructed; 143,574 (males 72,999, females 70,575) or 3975 per cent below fifteen and 201,761 (males 93,041, females 108,720) or 55.8 per cent above fifteen years of age were illiterate. Of 17,891, the Musalman population, 460 (males 425, females 35) or 2.57 per cent below fifteen and 55 (males 52, females 3) or 0.80 per cent above fifteen were under instruction; 90 (males 80, females 10) or 0.50 per cent below fifteen and 848 (males 842, females 6) or 4.74 per cent above fifteen were instructed; and 6391 (males 3101, females 3290) or 3572 per cent below fifteen and 10,047 (males 4452, females 5595) or 56.16 per cent above fifteen were illiterate. Of 305, the Christian population, 7 (males 2, females 5) or 2.29 per cent below fifteen were under instruction; four males below fifteen and 34 (males 25, females 9) or 11.17 per cent above fifteen were instructed; and 110 (males 46, females 64) or 36.06 per cent below fifteen and 150 (males 82, females 68) or 49.1 per cent above fifteen were illiterate:

Kolaba Education : Census Details. 1881.

Pupils by Caste, 1879-80.

Of 4169 pupils in Government schools at the end of 1879-80, 3741 or 89.73 per cent were Hindus, of whom 1320 were Brahmans, 532 Prabhus, forty Lingayats, fourteen Jains, 314 Vanis and Bhatias, 898 Kunbis, 434 artisans (Lohars, Sonars, and Shimpis), 189 personal servants and labourers. Of 268 or 6.42 per cent Musalmans, there were two Moghals, two Bohoras, 255 Konkanis, and nine Khojas and Memans. There were three Parsis, two Portuguese, and seventy-three Beni-Israels. Of eighty-two girls on the rolls in 1879-80 seventy-one were Hindus, ten Beni-Israels, and one was a Musalman.

School Returns, 1855-1880.

The following tables, prepared from special returns furnished by the Education Department, show in detail the number of schools and pupils, with their cost to Government:

Kolaba School Return, 1855-56, 1865-66, and 1879-80.

continued.

Kolaba School Return, 1855-66, 1865-66, and 1879-80—continued.

continued.

Kolaba School Return, 1855-56,1865-66, and 1879-80—continued.

Town Schools,1879-80.

A comparison of the present (1879-80) provision for teaching town and village children gives the following results.

Except a mission school at Alibag, there is at present (1882) no English school in the district. The Alibag mission school, opened by the Free Mission Church in 1879, had on the 31st of March 1882 ninety-seven pupils on the roll and had during the year an average daily attendance of sixty-nine pupils. In 1881-82 its total cost was £216 (Rs. 2160) of which £34 (Rs. 340) were contributed by Government. The monthly fee varies from 1s. to 2a. (8 annas-Re. 1). The rich send their boys to Bombay or to Poona to learn English. In 1865-66 there were schools at Alibag, Roha, Mahad, and Pen, where English was taught. These schools were closed, the Alibag school in 1876 and the Roha school in 1867, for insufficient attendance owing to an increase in fees; the Mahad school in 1871 because of the difficulty of securing certificated masters and of providing suitable pay; and the Pen school in 1872 because the people failed to make up by fees and contributions a monthly sum of £2 (Rs. 20). A very small number of parents belonging to the depressed classes have begun to teach their boys to read and write. In some schools attended by high caste Hindus boys of the depressed classes are allowed to learn, but they sit separate from the other boys. In June 1882 a separate school under a Chambhar teacher was opened for boys of this class at Mahad.

In the town of Alibag. in 1879-80 there were two Government schools, one for boys and the other for girls, with 388 names on the rolls and an average attendance of 281 pupils. The average yearly cost of each pupil in the boys' school was 4s. 7½d. (Rs. 2-5) and in the girls school 9s. 3d. (Rs.,4-10). In the town of Mahad in 1879-80 there were two Government schools, both for boys, with 267 names on the rolls, and an average attendance of 206 pupils. One of these was an Urdu school. The average yearly cost for each pupil in the Urdu school was 14s. 4½d. (Rs. 7-3) and in the Marathi school 12s. (Rs. 6). In the town of Pen in 1879-80 there were two Government schools for boys, with 274 names on the rolls and an average attendance of 208, The average yearly cost for each pupil was 12s. 10½d. (Rs. 6-7). In the town of Roha in 1879-80 there were two schools for boys, with 171 names on the rolls and an average attendance of 139.

Village School

One of these was an Urdu school. The average yearly cost for each pupil was 15s. 3d. (Rs. 7-10).

In 1879-80 exclusive of the four towns of Alibag, Mahad, Pen, and Roha, the Kolaba district was provided with fifty-nine schools or an average of one school for every eighteen inhabited villages. The following statement shows the distribution of these schools by sub-divisions:

Kolaba Village Schools, 1879-80.

Before the establishment of Government village schools the children who went to the private Brahman schools were generally Prabhus and Brahmans. Very few others learned to read or write. Now (1880) only about one-third of the pupils are Prabhus and Brahmans.

Libraries

The district has at present (1881) three libraries and two reading- rooms. The Alibag Native General Library, which was founded in 1866 by a general subscription, had in 1879-80 seventeen members and 259 books. It subscribed to five vernacular newspapers and to two monthly magazines. There are four classes of monthly subscription, 4s., 2s., 1s., and 6d., which in 1880 yielded an income of £15 (Rs. 150). The Pen Library was started in 1866. In 1879-80 it had thirty-five subscribers and 180 books. It took in nine vernacular newspapers and three monthly magazines. The subscriptions at 2s., 1s., and 6d. a month, yielded £10 (Rs. 100), which, after meeting the expenditure, left a balance of £2 (Rs. 20). The Mahad Library was started by the people of the town in 1874. In 1879-80 it was poorly supplied with books and subscribed to only two vernacular newspapers. There were three rates of monthly subscription, 1s., 6d., and. 3d. The Tala Reading-Room was founded in 1878 by the people of Tala in Mangaon. In 1879-80 it subscribed to five Marathi newspapers and one monthly magazine. The yearly subscription rates were 10s. (Rs. 5), 6s. (Rs. 3), and 2s. (Re. 1). At Roha a reading-room, opened in 1878, subscribes to one Anglo-vernacular newspaper.

Newspaper.

Two Marathi weekly newspapers and two Marathi monthly magazines are published at Alibag. The Satya Sadan or Home of Truth was started in 1870. It is published on Saturdays the yearly subscription being 2s. (Re. 1). The Sharabh or Grasshopper was started in April 1882; it is published on Wednesdays, the yearly subscription being 28. (Re. 1). The Satdharma Dip or the Light of True Religion was started in 1878; it is published on the first of every Hindu month, the yearly subscription being 2s. 6d. (Rs. 1 ¼). The Abala Mitra or Woman's Friend was started in 1879; it is published on the first of every Hindu month, the yearly subscription being 3s. (Rs.1½).