( S3 ) 
The great difficulty with which these schools have 
to contend in Malaya is the confusion of tongues 
that results from the many dialects spoken by the 
Chinese immigrants. A class may contain children 
speaking two or three different dialects. Fortunately, 
growing up side by side the children become bi- 
lingual or even tri-lingual and can usually under- 
stand any of the commoner dialects. An attempt 
is being made to introduce a modified form of 
Mandarin, the language of Northern and Central 
China, which its promoters hope will become the 
national language. It is taught by means of a 
syllabary of 40 simple symbols, which combined in 
twos or threes give the sound of a particular 
character in that particular character. It is too 
early to say what measure of success will attend 
this innovation. 
English is taught in these schools but with little 
success. 
The policy of the Governments is to encourage in 
the lower primary classes the teaching in the 
vernacular of subjects such as georgraphy, hand- 
work, mental arithmetic and so on, which will 
develop the reasoning powers and so fit children of 
intelligence for an advanced education in English 
and other subjects. 
9. GENERAL. 
(a) The public of British Malaya express their 
views on education not only through the 
local press but through the unofficial 
members of the Legislative Council in the 
Colony and of the Federal Council in the 
Federated Malay States. 
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