But if elementary and technical education were to meet with all the success one could desire, that success would needs be exceedingly limited, for, though some good would be done, only a few could be benefited. A broader view must be taken, a view that has regard not to the improvement of a few only, but of the people generally, and how this can best be done is a question that has brought forth many and various opinions, all more or less impracticable.
The Sea-Dayak has all he wants. He is well off, contented, and happy. He is a sober man, and indulges in but few luxuries. He is hard-working and he is honest, but he lacks strength of mind, and is easily led astray. Therefore, the longer he is kept from the influences of civilisation the better it will be for him, for the good cannot be introduced without the bad. Perhaps the problem of his future will work out better by a natural process. When his present sources of supply fail him and necessity forces him into other grooves, then, and not before, will he take up other industries, which his natural adaptability will soon enable him to learn.
To learn how to read and write and a little simple arithmetic is as far on the path of education as the average Malay boy can reach; and perhaps it is far enough. There are two Government Schools in Kuching for Malays, which are fairly well attended, though attendance is not compulsory. For those who may desire an education of a higher class than can be obtained in these schools, those of the S.P.G. and the R.C. Missions are always open; and Malays, though Muhammadans, do not hesitate to attend these schools, and even to be taught by the priests, for they know that no attempt will be made to proselytise them. They are encouraged to attend for their own good; they would be kept away if there was the faintest suspicion that it was for the sake of converting them. In Kuching, the Government has a third and larger school, the High School, entirely secular in character, which is open to boys of all races, who are taught by Chinese, Malay, and Indian schoolmasters, and this school is well attended.
S.P.G. BOYS' SCHOOL.
The large S.P.G. Boys' School is under the management of an English headmaster, and the boys are well educated. The pupils are chiefly local Chinese, and there are a few natives from the out-station missions. Old boys from this school are to be met with throughout the Malay Peninsula as well as in Sarawak, maintaining in positions of trust the credit their school has so justly gained. The S.P.G. Mission has also a Girls' School, conducted by two English Sisters, and here good work is also done.
S.P.G. GIRLS' SCHOOL.
Perhaps the largest school in Kuching is that belonging to the R.C. Mission, which is very ably conducted by the priests. As in the S.P.G. School, the pupils are chiefly Chinese boys. Attached to the Convent is a Girls' School under the control of the Mother Superior and four Sisters.
In the provinces, the S.P.G. Mission has schools at five different places, but only two are now under the control of priests: the R.C. Mission has the same number of Boys' Schools, all under the control of priests, besides three convents where girls are taught. The Methodist Episcopal Mission has a school at Sibu. All these schools receive State aid. Chinese have their own little schools scattered about, for which they receive small grants, and in Upper Sarawak there are two Government Chinese Schools. Efforts to start schools amongst the provincial Malays have not met with success; they have their own little village schools conducted by hajis, in which the teaching of the Koran is the main curriculum.