---

Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 11, p. 48.

48 COORG was placed under the newly constituted District board, and in 1905 the supervision of all the schools in Coorg was transferred to the Madras' Inspector of European and Training schools. In 1903-4 there were 88 public and 33 private institutions, attended in all by 4,599 Pupils (3,632 male, 967 female). Male scholars were 15•7 per cent. of the male population of school-going age, and female scholars 4-5 per cent. of the female population of that age. In the census returns of 1901, 78 in every i,ooo were entered as literate, that is, could read and write. The proportion for males was 128, and for females 16. Taking the Coorgs alone, 162 in r,ooo were literate, the ratio for males being 284, and for females 37, almost the whole being literate in Kanarese. All except 3 of the schools are primary. These number 85, of which 6 are municipal, 75 are under the District board, and 4 are aided. Three of the former and one of the latter are schools for girls. Model primary schools are being established at the head-quarters of the Padinalknad, Kiggatnad, and Nanjarajpatna haluks; and three girls' schools are to be opened at Kunda, Ammatti, and Nalkeri. A pleasing feature of the Coorg mad schools is that they are freely attended by girls as well as boys, both learning side by side in the same classes. But no girls go alone ; they accompany their brothers or other near relatives, and are in the proportion of about one girl to four boys. Instruction in the vernacular is compulsory, but in six schools some learn English also, for which they pay an extra fee. The primary school course occupies five years. The only special school is a train- ing school at Mercara for masters of primary schools, to which are attached stipends for 13 s students. Six for girls have also now been provided, with the view of training schoolmistresses. For secondary education there are two schools. That at Virara- jendrapet is of the lower stage, while the other, at Mercara, is a high school or of the upper secondary stage. In these the instruction is in English, and in 1904 they had 501 pupils,.of whom 7 were girls. The number in the upper secondary stage was 98. The standard aimed at is that of the matriculation examination of the Madras University, for which Mercara is a local centre. In the last twenty years 115 have matriculated, including 32 in the last five years. For students who wish to carry on their studies farther, scholarships are provided, tenable at the colleges in Bangalore, Mysore, or Madras. A few who have gone. out of Coorg for higher education have risen to important positions in Mysore. The Mercara high school has a well-managed boarding- ' The supervision has since been transferred to the Inspector of Schools of the Vlth Circle with head-quarters at Calicut, owing to the reorganization of the inspect- ing agency in the Madras Presidency. The number of stipends has been increased to 26.