'File 19/248 I (C 78) Education at Bahrain' [‎179r] (374/494)

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mors acute in the town than in the country districts^ There are^
however5 two important points to consider. The first is that the
nrot>o3ed improvements in education in the villages should be
accompanied by incentives to the village boys, one of which would
be admission to technical training. The second point is that
v illage boys are likely to prove on the whole more apt for indus
trial training than those from the tovtfu The Oil Company have
spoken in favour of country men and boys as being more adaptable
to certain kinds of labour, though their experience in this matter
relates mainly to employees in unskilled and semi-skilled occupa
tions/ Certainly, a good technical school would not be giving
full and fair service to 'the State unless its doors were open to
boys from all parts, regardless of all else but their eduoational
qualifications and their suitability for the courses of training*
I noted with interest during my visit to Bahrain that two students
were to be sent from Kuwait for "training in the Technical School.
,/itii a larger and more efficient school, Bahrain may be asked to
extend this kind of service, but it will only be possible to
acknowledge the compliment worthily if the technical training is
accompanied by proper boarding facilities.
Given the necessary building accommodation COST OF BOARDING,
and equipment, the cost of maintaining all the
Technical School students in a boarding house would not be high.
In Baghdad the cost of food, clothing, laundry, depreciation of
equipment, boarding house servants and various small items of
expenditure, amounts to about £18 per student, per annum. The
malority of the students come from poor families and fma one
standard of living in the school relatively high. A boarding house
for ICQ students in Bahrain would require one resident master ana
an assistant. The latter might be an ex-student working as a
junior instructor in the school workshops. The boarding no use
would need a dispensary and the regular attendance of'dhe&lt _ _
official. A cook and two or three servants would ^1'-
domestic staff5 the students themselves taking part m the domestic
work. Although Arab boys have strong-family e
adapt themselves vary well to corporate life in a boarding hous ,
and even look upon compulsory residence as a privilege*
When selecting, entrants to the Technical
School special interest might be talcen_in boys ARAB STUDEMTb.
coming from families with a craft tradition,, . . q ,
Arab workmen of the artisan class are h^ dw orking, patiant and
frugal, and these qualities may reasonably be expected in their
children. It is, of course, most usual £or an Arab craftsman hia-
self to train one or more of his sons from early childhood in
practice of his trade, this being an essential feature in the
economy of working-class family life. But it may often happen
that a boy from sSch a family displays a
and advancement, in which case elemen ^y. sCh00 H^^° iS'
technical training would produce excellent ^ ^
ultimately for the community. Officials in ^e Bahrain Oil Company
reported very favourably on the aptitude of loc . ^
certain classes of training. They specially ins ^anced tne saccess
which had attended their efforts to train "^tive welders. ^Isewtiere
in the r iast it is common to find boys and men from t ^ P
classes who show similar capacity ior 1 ®t^f 1 s ^ 1 i®4Anative,
Generally the Arab workman is not very 0 W^ n oLSilitv? ie
and does not readily take action on his ' 1 far as he under-
copies well carries out orders faithfully,
stancis them, but he is a Pfo . t ^ hut in mv opinion they
There