Hindi (375), Sanskrit (353), Persian (694), Arabic (31), English
(8), Girls (6), and infants (1). The number of schools in the
district of Midnapore was also given: 548 Bengali schools, 182
Oriya schools, 48 Persian schools, and one English school. Table
11 gives the position, district-wise:
Four Stages of School Instruction
Adam divided the period spent in elementary schools into four
stages. According to him these were: the first stage, seldom
exceeding ten days, during which the young scholar was taught
‘to form the letters of the alphabet on the ground with a small
stick or slip of bamboo’, or on a sandboard. The second stage,
extending from two and a half to four years, was ‘distinguished
by the use of the palm leaf as the material on which writing is
performed’, and the scholar was ‘taught to write and read’, and
commit ‘to memory the Cowrie Table, the Numeration Table as
far as 100, the Katha Table (a land measure Table), and the Ser
Table’, etc. The third stage extended ‘from two to three years,
which are employed in writing on the plantain-leaf.’ Addition,
subtraction, and other arithmetical rules were additionally
taught during this period. In the fourth, and last stage, of up to
two years, writing was done on paper. The scholar was expected
to be able to read the Ramayana, Mansa Mangal, etc., at home,
as well as be qualified in accounts, and the writing of letters,
petitions, etc. Table 12 indicates the numbers, using the various
materials on which writing was done in the surveyed areas.