3

E.—4

on the sign and manual system in schools recognised by the Education Department. The parent shall, as far as practicable, have the liberty of selecting the school to which his child should be sent. 10. That children who have partial hearing or remains of speech should in all cases be educated on the pure oral system. The children should in all schools be classified according to their ability. 11." [It must be understood that our suggestions are not intended to be applicable to all children now under instruction, and that the recommendations indicated will, by their very nature, have to be carried out according as circumstances permit.] 12. That there should be teachers in the proportion of one to eight or ten pupils in pure oral schools, and of one to fourteen or fifteen in sign and manual schools. 13. That in institutions the principal or head-master should reside in the school. 14. That the inspectors should be selected by the Education Department as far as possible from those who have had previous acquaintance with the work of inspection in ordinary elementary schools, and who, in addition, shall have become fully qualified by the knowledge of the systems of instruction practised both at Home and abroad. They should also certify that the teachers are properly qualified. 15. That they should see that the schools are properly furnished with all the appliances necessary and the internal arrangements requisite for the proper teaching of the pupils under the pure oral system where it is adopted. 16. That they should report on the knowledge of written language, speech, and the general efficiency of the schools, under whatever system. 17. That the individual examination by the inspector should be a means for merely testing the general progress of the scholars, and not for the purpose of paying individual grants, and that the grants should be proportionate to the higher cost of educating the deaf on any system. 18. That the different methods or systems of teaching should be left free from the control of the inspector so long as the result in written or spoken language is satisfactory. 19. We think that the present training colleges for the teachers of the deaf do not now fulfil all the conditions which ought to be required by the Education Department, nor can they be expected to arrive at that standard without Government assistance, examination, and inspection (all of which are enjoyed by ordinary training colleges), and with compulsory enforcement of two years' training for the students. We recommend— 20. That, if the Education Department should approve of them or of any other well-qualified institution, they should be recognised as training colleges for teachers of the deaf, and should receive a grant at least equal to that given to ordinary training colleges ; and that the examination of the students in training colleges for teachers of the deaf should be carried out by the inspectors specially selected by the Education Department for the inspection of schools for the deaf, supplemented by an examination in the physiology of the various organs of speech conducted by a duly-qualified medical examiner. 21. That, except in schools where the sign-and-manual system is exclusively used, all teachers should be in possession of all their faculties, and have had previous experience in teaching hearing children. 22. That trained teachers of the deaf should, as in Germany, receive salaries such as would induce teachers of special attainments to enter the profession, and on a higher scale than those enjoyed by trained teachers of ordinary children. 23. That, after sufficient time shall have elapsed to give full effect to the recommendations above given, the Education Department should enforce such regulations with regard to certificated teachers for the deaf as may be in force in ordinary public elementary schools, and that the certificates of any self-constituted, bodies shall not then be recognised. 24. That there should be one uniform schedule of inquiry of the deaf for the census returns of the whole of the United Kingdom. The inquiries should be made on a wider basis than heretofore, with reference to points selected and settled beforehand, which we have already indicated in our report. They should be carefully verified by a reference to the local sanitary authority, and should be made uniform for all parts of the United Kingdom. There should be one Government form of statistics to be kept in every school or institution for the deaf, which should be shown to the inspector, and a copy of which should be annually sent to the Education Department. 25. That the class should be spoken of as " the deaf : " the terms " deaf-mute " and "deaf and dumb " should be strictly applied to such only as are totally deaf and completely dumb. 26. That the deaf and dumb should be kept as far as possible from being a class apart. We think that the mixture of the sexes in school and especially in after-life is, in all cases, u'nadvisable. We also think that the intermarriage of the congenital deaf should be strongly discouraged, as well as the intermarriage of blood-relations, especially where any hereditary tendency to deaf-mutism prevails in the family. 27. That the children who are deaf, dumb, and blind should be taught in a school for the blind rather than in one for the deaf.

Enclosure 2 in No. 2. Replies to Questions put by Director to Parents and Friends of ex-Pupils. A. (1.) He still makes use of the spoken language. (2.) We all talk to him, and' understand him perfectly,- as he does us. (3.) I think he can read the lips better now than he did, and quicker. (4.) His education will be indeed a lasting benefit to him, for which I cannot be too thankful to you. He is like a schoolmaster to his younger brothers and sisters. (5.) He is still at the fishing