CHAPTER XIV.

EDUCATION IN HAWAII, PORTO RICO, AND CUBA.

HAWAII.

1905-6.

The following extracts from the report of Mr. W. H. Babbitt, superintendent of public instruction of Hawaii, illustrate the condition of the schools of the islands, as far as a statistical report can do so, but such a report can not reflect the lively interest in the schools which is manifested by the community generally. To gain a true idea of this public sentiment residence in the islands is of course necessary, but a fair estimate of its strength can be obtained from the Hawaiian papers, which contain numerous articles on educational matters, notices of meetings, of school festivals, graduation exercises, letters from teachers and parents, and the like, the publication of which indicates a public interest in the schools emulating that of any community on the mainland.

The increase in attendance of the Japanese pupils, as shown in the tables, is significant.

Mr. Babbitt says:

In reviewing the educational work for the last year it is a pleasure to report considerable progress in spite of severe handicaps. The lack of suitable accommodations for children applying for admission and the insufficiency of funds appropriated for carrying on the work has operated against the greatest success and has made the administration of the schools a more trying task for both the department and the teachers than should be the case. The loyalty of all those in the employ of the department and the enthusiasm created by hope of better things have, however, more than offset the drawbacks, and the schools to-day are in a better condition than before.

*

Manual training is being extended as much as possible, and the time is not far distant when each school properly equipped with tools should be in a position to do a large part of the repairing necessary from time to time. This will give the pupils a valuable training and save a very considerable outlay for the department.

*

The need of an agricultural and industrial college is becoming more and more apparent. The fact that the vast majority of our students do not attend school beyond the required school age points to the necessity of fitting them as far as possible not alone for citizenship but for ability to properly maintain themselves in the struggle for existence.

The attendance in the schools, both public and private, is constantly increasing.

The following table shows the enrollment by years since 1898:

* During the past year the following teachers have been employed in all

The increased appropriations made by the last legislature for teachers' salaries, repair of school property, and erection of new buildings have done much to advance the work of the public schools. Increase in attendance at the public schools has been steady, and since 1904 has amounted to 2,671 pupils. During this time only 42 new teachers have been added, thus showing that for each new teacher there have been nearly 64 new children enrolled. This means that school buildings have been congested and teachers overworked.

Value of school property (exclusive of movable property and school lands): 1904,

$343,400; 1907, $768,502; increase in three years, $425,102.

The Territory spent for school purposes, aside from moneys appropriated from the loan fund, the following amounts:

The amounts spent, however, have not kept a proportionate pace with the increase in attendance, as shown by the cost of instruction per capita, which, in 1904, was $28.27; in 1905, $22.12; in 1906, $22.42; and in 1907, $20.41.

Industrial work has been emphasized and interest aroused and sustained. Last year, out of 7,708 girls in the schools, 7,425 were instructed in sewing and one-half of the pupils enrolled were engaged in agricultural work of some sort. It is hoped during the next year to establish cooking departments in several of the schools. Wherever possible, schools will be equipped with tools, and all minor repairs on buildings and fences will be made by pupils under the direction of the teachers. Elementary instruction in manual work will be given. The following table shows the number of pupils taking the different manual courses in the public schools:

The standard of instruction has been raised and certificated teachers are being placed in positions formerly held by uncertificated teachers. In the last printed report of this Department it was shown that on one island 36 per cent of the teachers were uncertificated. Such a condition should never again exist.

As will be seen from the following table, the number of children attending the lower grades is overwhelmingly large. The opportunity for higher study here, without the great expense involved in going abroad, should induce many of our children to take the courses offered.

By act 24 of the legislative session of 1907 was established the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts of the Territory of Hawaii. The college is under the control of a board of five regents, appointed by the governor for the term of four years, with the exception of the first incumbents. The purposes of the college, as set forth in the act creating it, are—

"To give thorough instruction in agriculture, mechanic arts, and the natural sciences connected therewith, and such instruction in other branches of advanced learning as the board of regents may from time to time prescribe, and to give such military instruction as the Federal Government may require. The standard of instruction in each course shall be equal to that given and required by similar colleges on the mainland, and upon the successful completion of the prescribed course the board of regents are authorized to confer a corresponding degree upon all students who shall become entitled thereto."

The legislature appropriated, from the loan fund, $10,000 for the erection of buildings, purchase of apparatus, fixtures, etc., and $15,000 from the general revenues of the Territory, $10,000 of which is to be for salaries and $5,000 for general expenses. The board of regents has been appointed and the task of selecting a site and putting the institution in working order is already under way. Much interest has been manifested by the community in the college, and it is hoped that many good results will flow from it. With the aid that this institution should receive from the Federal Government, under its munificent system of endowing agricultural colleges, a most thorough system of practical instruction can be built up, the equal of any that obtains in our sister Territories. This being a subtropical country, the problems that will be presented here will be unique, and their working out will be watched with much interest.

PUBLIC LIBRARY.

The legislative session of 1907 laid the foundation for a public library, the Territory at present having no library of an entirely public nature. The Territory owns many books, gathered during the time of the various governments that have existed here, which can be used as the basis for the establishment of a good public library. Isolated as this community is, the need for such an institution, with branches scattered throughout the Territory if possible, is at once apparent, particularly in its relation to the school children of the community. The act of the legislature establishing the library aims to meet this want, and for the first two years an appropriation of $10,000 has been made for the support and maintenance of the library.

PORTO RICO.

[Abstract of the Report for 1907 of the Commissioner of Education for Porto Rico.]

The report of the commissioner, Dr. Roland P. Falkner," shows commendable progress in the schools of the island. This has been due in large part to a fixed administrative service, there having been during the past year no changes of moment in the personnel of the department. The work of the several divisions has been closely coordinated along lines detailed more fully in the report for 1906.

The fundamental school law of Porto Rico was passed in the year 1904. Its essential provisions have not yet been modified, though in details improvements have been made by successive legislatures. The legislation of 1907 calls for special notice from its rounding off certain phases of the general law and introducing new features. One of its beneficial results has been the establishing in definite terms of the right of the local school boards to hold real property, and the transferring to such boards of the schoolhouses erected by the insular government throughout the island. Under existing law the local school boards are required to pay a monthly allowance to the teachers, which is designated as house rent. It is, in fact, part of the regular compensation of the school teachers, its amount being fixed by law, and the fact of its being paid by the boards is the apparent justification of the election of teachers by local boards. It has been an anomaly of the law previously existing that certain teachers were appointed directly by the department of education without intervention of the school board, who were entitled to receive the monthly allowance of house rent from the board. By recent law this anomaly has been removed.

As high schools are established in only three cities of the island of Porto Rico, the benefit of secondary education was not enjoyed by many of the residents of the other towns and villages, who are unable to bear the expense of boarding in these cities. This disadvantage of the smaller community lies in the nature of the case. One step toward removing it was taken by the legislature in establishing fifty scholarships in high schools, to be distributed among the towns of the island. Such scholarships carry with them a small monthly payment which is deemed adequate to pay the subsistence of pupils from other places.

In addition to making more liberal provision for the fiscal year 1907-8 and simplifying and improving the form of the appropriation act, the legislature made an appropriation of $80,000 for the construction of school buildings. The plan for the expenditure of this a Resigned August 1, 1907