'ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY, FOR THE YEAR 1909-1910' [‎153r] (37/148)

SUMMARY.
XXIX
ig09-l 9l( ^
f adjusting 1 school hours and curricula to the real needs of the agriculturists,
° ut go far the experiments under the varied conditions prevailing in the Presi
dency have not met with any marked success. The increase of 9 per cent, in
the number of Mahomedans under public instruction indicates that the commu
nity is taking greater advantage of the facilities offered. At the same time the
difficulties connected with the teaching of two vernaculars remain unsolved, and
it is a question whether it would not he for the educational advantage of the
community to discard Urdu in favour of the local vernacular as the compulsory
language, leaving the accomplishment of a literary knowledge of Urdu to those
^ho desire to add it. Education also spread further amongst the aboriginal
anc [ hill tribes, while the number of pupils from depressed classes increased by
20 per cent. The latter are meeting with increasing consideration from
municipalities and local boards. There was a perceptible rise in the number
of pupils attending special schools. The new Technical School at Ahmedabad,
closely connected with the great local cotton industry, came into operation
and, with its fine equipment and competent staff, gives promise of great success.
61. Notwithstanding the increased accommodation the school was over- Yeravda
crowded in the last five months of the year. The health of the boys was satisfac- fchSoi? atory
tory and the high percentage of passes at the examination reflects credit on the
educational staff. The licensing of boys, however, did not meet with as much
success as before, and out of 64 boys licensed 11 absconded, while 12 did not work
satisfactorily. Greater vigilance was observed in supervising and reporting on
discharged boys, with the result that out of 95 boys discharged in three years
only 13 now remain untraced. The fact that 84'6 per cent, of the boys, whose
careers have been traced, were found to be earning an honest livelihood, indicates
that the school is doing excellent work.
62. The number of publications registered during the year increased by Literature,
over 23 per cent. As in the preceding year the predominating subject was
Religion which claimed 18 per cent, of the total publications compared with
23 per cent, last year. Poetry accounted for 15 per cent, of the total and the
most noticeable advance was in publications under this head, the increase
being 100 or almost one quarter of the whole increase. There were also
marked increases in the number of publications on the Arts, Biography, Drama,
Fiction and Politics, but the proportion to the whole issues of the year in no
case exceeds 5 per cent. The total number of publications on pure politics
was only 31, but political propaganda and controversy were dispersed
throughout most of the books and periodicals dealing with Poetry, Drama
and Eiction.
63. During the year the number of newspapers which dealt with current Native Press,
political topics decreased by 9 per cent, to 150 but the number of periodicals
rose from 13 to 23. The publication of newspapers and periodicals is most active
io Bombay and the Central Division. The editors of the Kdl and the Pratod
were prosecuted under section 124A of the Indian Penal Code and both were
convicted. The Hindu Punch was proceeded against under section 3 of Act
W of 1908 with the result that the press at which the paper was printed was
confiscated. The Sdnj Vdrtmdn and the Jag ad- Vritt extended their cir
culation most remarkably, while that of the Bhdla, the Kal and Pudhari con
ducted. to a considerable extent.
flu The most important work of the year was the excavation of a fine Archaeojogy.
nfidhist stupa discovered at Mirpur-Khas near Hyderabad in Bind, ihe
A cm oval of accumulated debris revealed much fine decorative and iconic work and
* fimately the reliquary with relics still intact was discovered. Another stupa
* 922-8 s