University of Nanking - Linguist Yearbook (Nanking, China)

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74 EDUCATION Primary Schools, and may he divided into Lower and Higher. The High Schools are called Middle Schools, and are divided into Junior and Senior. In Nanking there are 120 Government Primary Schools, having il-ll enrollment of about l0,000, These schools are co-educational. although there are a few Higher Primary Schools for girls only. OF course they vary in equipment and efficiency. Some are very well equipped and taught, as for instance, the practice schools of South-Eastern University Educational Department, and that of the Normal School. These schools are experimenting with the Project Methodl' and the Dalton Plan. Most of them, however, have to be content with teachers who have had only Middle School education. The subjects of study are modern, and the text hooks very good indeed. There are about twenty Mission primary schools. with perhaps 1,000 students. These schools are connected with the various churches and chapels, or with thc Middle schools, and like the Government schools, they vary in efiiciency and equipment. Of course, the great difference is, that in the Mission Schools the children are taught the Bible, while the Govern- ment schools leave religion out. The Government has six Middle Schools for boys and one for girls. Entrance into these is by competitive examination, and there are many who would like to enter who cannot. For instance, last year The First Middle School for boys which has an enrollment of about 600, could receive only one out of every eight who applied for entrance. One of the noteworthy things of the Junior High of this Middle School, ig that it is organized as a whole into a scout troupe, and there is 9, Scout Muster on the faculty giving his whole time to his troupe, Beside these, there is a Normal School for boys, and one for girls, Qthe only Government Middle School for gll'lS,-enrollmgnt 30095 an Agricultural High Schoolg and a Technical High School, teaching electrical and mechanical engineering, and the Middle School of South-Eastern University, which has an enrollment of about 500. Because of the lack of room in the Government Schools there aw about twenty private Middle SGh00lS fm' boys and there is one private Middle School for girls of the Chinese living in Java. The Mission Schools, by rights, Ollgllt to have bee!! given first, as they were the pioneers in Western Education, and blazed the yvay for thc,

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i.. -L... --+1.4.i.. tiki, .- .... --- .r -J -1---- Q, . fl-Tw ' 'I C f .'sf'-. 'hgff '3 lt53S'lf51- ?'f:5'E':'f'ff:s . Q .g.1r2:'3'.f 1 i- i l - iwiijii.-.25 f-:NAN KI G XX: T 1 THB ATHENS .OF CHINA ANKING is a city famous for its schools, lt has always been an educa- tional center, hut never more so than now. lt is our purpose in this article not only to give a glimpse ofthe great variety of schools in Nanking. but also through this, to give an idea of the progress of modern education in China. The schools of Nanking are doubtless better than the schools of most other places, nevertheless, they will give an idea of the standard toward which the Chinese are striving. The old Classical Schools where the Confucian Classics were studied are almost a thing of the past. The Classics are still studied, but only as Chinese literature, not as the sole and all sufficient source of information. However, it is rather ai surprising fact that there are perhaps ten thousand children of primary school age still studying the Classics, A recent survey has located over two hundred and fifty of these schools, and it is estimated that there are at least three hundred of them in the city. Their days are numbered, however, and a few years will sec the last of them g- for this reason if for no other, the old type of teacher is fast passing away. The school system of China has broken with the past, and today the Chinese are adopting the latest Western methods and standards of educa- tion. They have adoptcd a system which calls for six years ot Elementary School, six years of High School, and four years Of College work. This is therefore known as the li-6-4 plan. The El0lN0l1fiLry schools are called i735

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THE LINGUIST 75 Others. There are seven Mission Middle Schools, four for boys and three fOr girls Christianity believes in the education of women. Of the boys Schools, the largest is the Middle School of the University of Nanking, Which has a splendid plant, and an enrollment of about 400. The been number of boys in Mission Middle Schools is abouaeoo, the wen Humber of girls about 450. Taking them as a group, the Mission Middle schools are better equipped, and better taught than t-he others. In speaking of Middle Schools, we must not overlook the American High School Hillcrest. It helps to solve the problem of how American Children may be prepared to enter American colleges lt ishnot a very large school as yet, but it draws its students from a wide territory around Nanking. We turn new from the Middle Schools to the institutions'-of higher learning found in Nanking. At the head of the Government educational System stands South-Eastern University. which is considered by many to be the best Government University in China. There are about 1000 Students here in the University, of whom eighty are girls,--a new thing in China ! The Business 'Department of the University is located in Shanghai, and has about 400 students. The University oHers work in over twenty Departments, and grants the degrees of B. A. and B. S. Beside South-Eastern University there is a Government Law College with about 200 students studying Chinese and Western Civil Law and Jurisprudence, the VVaterways Engineering College, and a Naval Academy. As its name suggests the Waterways College is training men to deal with the water way problems of China,-flood prevention, canal upkeep, and the like. In the College are about l-50 students who have been selected by competitive examinations. The work of this College is of very high grade. The Naval Academy is at a very low ebb due to political troubles and has only thirty students. The Christian Educational work is headed up by the University Of Nanking for men and Ginling College for women. The University of Nanking is described in an article with that title. Ginling College is an A class women's college incorporated under the Regents of the University of the State of New York, thus having the right to grant the degree of A. B. The present facility numbers 26, including three on furlough, with 100 students, more than SOM, Of Whom are Christians.