Page:Calcutta Review Vol. II (Oct. - Dec. 1844).pdf/316

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in bengal and behar.
311

weekly reports of work done, although this was contrary to my express injunctions.

“The forms I prepared were adapted to ascertain, first, the state of school-instruction; and second, the state of domestic and adult instruction. For the former purpose a separate form was employed for each description of school—one for Bengali or Hindi schools, another for Sanskrit schools, a third for Persian and Arabic schools, &c.—each embracing, with modifications, the following details, viz. the name of the town or village in which the school was situated; the description of place employed as a school-house; the name, religion, caste, and age of the teacher; the sources and amount of his receipts; the extent of his instructions; the number of his scholars, present and absent; their religion and caste; the age at which each had entered school, his present age, the probable age at which he would leave school, and the progress he had made in the cause of instruction; and, finally, the books, if any, written by the teacher. To ascertain the state of domestic and adult instruction, another form was prepared, including the following particulars, viz., the number of families in each town or village; the name, religion, caste, and principal occupation of the head of each family; the number of persons in each family, male and female, above fourteen years of age; the number, male and female, between fourteen and five; and the number, male and female, before five; the number of families in each town or village giving domestic instruction to the children; and the number of children in each such family receiving domestic instruction; the number of persons of adult age in each family who had received a learned education; the number who, without having received a learned education, knew something more than mere reading and writing, whether Bengali or Hindi accounts, the Persian and the English language, or any two or more of these; the number who could merely read and. write; and the number who could barely decipher or write their own names.”

In order, however, to render the matter more palpable, not merely to the eye of the mind but to the very eye of sense, we print, on the two following pages, the three tabulated forms first employed by Mr. Adam, when he commenced his inquiries in the thana Nattore of the zillah Rajshahi. These forms were afterwards considerably enlarged and improved so as to embrace various other interesting particulars. We therefore add a fourth, exhibiting some of these additional particulars as detailed in the written report:—