DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68024#0241
233
the 80 or 90 Arabic students there are seven moulvies besides the pro-
fessors ; while for the 320 boys in the Anglo-Persian department there are
18 teachers besides the professor and the resident moonshee. The Director
of Public Instruction will be instructed to submit an early report on these
establishments.
There will remain R51,000 to be spent on Madrissas at Dacca, Chittagong, Rajshahye
or other places in the Mahomedan districts, on scholarships, and on other means of promoting
the education of Mahomedans.
5. The Lieutenant-Governor proposes that the new Madrissas should consist of a
boarding-house for Mahomedan students, a set of rooms for study, and a staff of Mahomedan
officers (who should teach Arabic and Persian, and other branches not requiring a knowledge
of English), as well as a master capable of acting as home tutor for English education. One
at least of the teachers would have free quarters in the boarding-house, and would have
charge of the boarders. The Madrissa would be attached to, and the boarding-house would
be near, the college or high school, and Mahomedan boys of approved merit, who attended
school or college, would have two-thirds of their school fees paid for them from the Madrissa
funds.
6. Of all the eastern districts, Chittagong and Noacolly are those which have the
largest population of Mahomedans of the class which seek education and send students to
the Calcutta and Hooghly Madrissas. Rajshahye is centrically situated in a part of Bengal
nearly three-fourths of the inhabitants of which are Mahomedans. Dacca, on the other hand,
is a still more important centre, and has also around it a very large Mahomedan population;
and the Commissioner reported in 1871 that Khajeh Abdool Gunny, c.s.i., with many in-
fluential Mahomedans, wished to have an exclusively Mahomedan college established at
Dacca, whereat students might learn English or Arabic. The memorialists, it is observed,
especially say that they do not require Bengali or Hindustani to be taught at this college, as
their children learn these languages sufficiently well at home. The memorialists lay much
stress on having a European gentleman, with some knowledge of Persian and Arabic, at the
head of the Dacca Madrissa. The Commissioner reported in 1871 that a piece of land
would be given for the site of a Madrissa at Dacca, and that eventually wealthy Mahomedans
might probably come forward to endow such an institution.
7. If the Mahomedan gentlemen of Dacca should furnish the funds for a separate
college of their own, every assistance shall be given to them, and the Mohsin Madrissa grant
will be amalgamated with their funds. But, putting this question apart, the Lieutenant-
Governor’s present view is, that it will be best to establish, in addition to the Hooghly
Madrissa, Madrissas at Dacca, at Chittagong, and at Rajshahye, consisting of not less than
the following:—
(a) A boarding-house with three or more school-rooms, and a decent house, after the
native style, for the resident teacher.
(£) An establishment consisting of-
Per annum.
R
Superintendent onR 200, rising to R250 . • • • • • .2,700
1st Teacher on R75, rising to R100 ....... 1,020
2nd ditto on R40, „ to R60 .... .... 640
Contingencies and prizes, at R120 a month ...... 1,440
Servants for hoarding-house and grant-in-aid of boarders’ messing at R100 . 1,200
Total per annum . 7,000
For Dacca a more highly-paid staff might be allowed, say a Superintendent on R350 per
mensem, and annual net grant of RIO,000. The Superintendent should be, if possible,
a Mahomedan, who knows both English and either Arabic or Persian, and he should be com-
petent to teach Mahomedan law. The Madrissa building should be as near as possible to the
college or high school or zillah school buildings ; boarders or other Mahomedan boys approved
by the committee would be allowed to attend the English, law, survey, science, and other class-
es of the college or school on payment of one-third the usual fees, the other two-thirds being
paid by the Mohsin Fund. Each Madrissa would be under the management of a spc ial com-
mittee, or of a special sub-committee of the general District School Committee. S.^ch com-
mittee or sub-committee should consist of Mahomedans and Europeans, and the Superintend-
ent of the local Madrissa would be a member, and might be secretary. At Dacca and Hooghly
the Principal of the college should be a member of the committee. The cost of the buildings,
which should not be very expensive, would be met from the uninvested surplus of about
R90,000 now in the hands of the Mohsin Fund trustees.
30
the 80 or 90 Arabic students there are seven moulvies besides the pro-
fessors ; while for the 320 boys in the Anglo-Persian department there are
18 teachers besides the professor and the resident moonshee. The Director
of Public Instruction will be instructed to submit an early report on these
establishments.
There will remain R51,000 to be spent on Madrissas at Dacca, Chittagong, Rajshahye
or other places in the Mahomedan districts, on scholarships, and on other means of promoting
the education of Mahomedans.
5. The Lieutenant-Governor proposes that the new Madrissas should consist of a
boarding-house for Mahomedan students, a set of rooms for study, and a staff of Mahomedan
officers (who should teach Arabic and Persian, and other branches not requiring a knowledge
of English), as well as a master capable of acting as home tutor for English education. One
at least of the teachers would have free quarters in the boarding-house, and would have
charge of the boarders. The Madrissa would be attached to, and the boarding-house would
be near, the college or high school, and Mahomedan boys of approved merit, who attended
school or college, would have two-thirds of their school fees paid for them from the Madrissa
funds.
6. Of all the eastern districts, Chittagong and Noacolly are those which have the
largest population of Mahomedans of the class which seek education and send students to
the Calcutta and Hooghly Madrissas. Rajshahye is centrically situated in a part of Bengal
nearly three-fourths of the inhabitants of which are Mahomedans. Dacca, on the other hand,
is a still more important centre, and has also around it a very large Mahomedan population;
and the Commissioner reported in 1871 that Khajeh Abdool Gunny, c.s.i., with many in-
fluential Mahomedans, wished to have an exclusively Mahomedan college established at
Dacca, whereat students might learn English or Arabic. The memorialists, it is observed,
especially say that they do not require Bengali or Hindustani to be taught at this college, as
their children learn these languages sufficiently well at home. The memorialists lay much
stress on having a European gentleman, with some knowledge of Persian and Arabic, at the
head of the Dacca Madrissa. The Commissioner reported in 1871 that a piece of land
would be given for the site of a Madrissa at Dacca, and that eventually wealthy Mahomedans
might probably come forward to endow such an institution.
7. If the Mahomedan gentlemen of Dacca should furnish the funds for a separate
college of their own, every assistance shall be given to them, and the Mohsin Madrissa grant
will be amalgamated with their funds. But, putting this question apart, the Lieutenant-
Governor’s present view is, that it will be best to establish, in addition to the Hooghly
Madrissa, Madrissas at Dacca, at Chittagong, and at Rajshahye, consisting of not less than
the following:—
(a) A boarding-house with three or more school-rooms, and a decent house, after the
native style, for the resident teacher.
(£) An establishment consisting of-
Per annum.
R
Superintendent onR 200, rising to R250 . • • • • • .2,700
1st Teacher on R75, rising to R100 ....... 1,020
2nd ditto on R40, „ to R60 .... .... 640
Contingencies and prizes, at R120 a month ...... 1,440
Servants for hoarding-house and grant-in-aid of boarders’ messing at R100 . 1,200
Total per annum . 7,000
For Dacca a more highly-paid staff might be allowed, say a Superintendent on R350 per
mensem, and annual net grant of RIO,000. The Superintendent should be, if possible,
a Mahomedan, who knows both English and either Arabic or Persian, and he should be com-
petent to teach Mahomedan law. The Madrissa building should be as near as possible to the
college or high school or zillah school buildings ; boarders or other Mahomedan boys approved
by the committee would be allowed to attend the English, law, survey, science, and other class-
es of the college or school on payment of one-third the usual fees, the other two-thirds being
paid by the Mohsin Fund. Each Madrissa would be under the management of a spc ial com-
mittee, or of a special sub-committee of the general District School Committee. S.^ch com-
mittee or sub-committee should consist of Mahomedans and Europeans, and the Superintend-
ent of the local Madrissa would be a member, and might be secretary. At Dacca and Hooghly
the Principal of the college should be a member of the committee. The cost of the buildings,
which should not be very expensive, would be met from the uninvested surplus of about
R90,000 now in the hands of the Mohsin Fund trustees.
30