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Penang Free School is a secondary school located on Jalan Masjid Negeri (previously Green Lane), George Town, Penang, Malaysia. Although the medium of instruction is now Malay, Penang Free School is the first English-medium school in South East Asia and is the oldest recorded school in the country. Alumni are known as "Old Frees". There is a history of rivalry with St. Xavier's Institution, another of Penang's premier schools, which also claims the title of Malaysia's oldest school. ==History== The school was founded by Rev. Robert Sparke Hutchings on 21 October 1816, on the island of Penang, Malaya. Its first headmaster was Mr. James Cox 1816-1821. Its premises on Farquhar Street first housed the Hutchings School, but is now the Penang State Museum. In 1928, the school moved to its current location on Jalan Masjid Negeri (also known as Green Lane). The school hosted the first communist cell ever to penetrate a Malayan school. Several of the schoolmasters were socialist in outlook and encouraged the formation of the cell which went on to produce a cadre of communist leaders who went on to make their careers in China. The communist cell was suppressed in the late 1930s. The school received cluster school status from the Malaysian Ministry of Education in 2007. Excerpts of the original charter: ''"That it will be the first object of the Institution to provide for the Education of such children as would be otherwise, brought up in idleness and consequent vice, and without any means of obtaining instruction either in useful learning or in any manual employment, and to implant in them in the early habits of industry, order and a good conduct."'' -—from "The Original Plan of the Establishment of Prince of Wales Island, Free School, 1816". Introduction Between 1805 and 1816 education was available only for European children, and children of Government Officials. The increasing number of Asian children, however, resulted in an increasing interest to provide for their own education needs. For this purpose a public meeting was convened after representations to the Government by the Rev. R. S. Hutchings, Chaplain of the Presidency, on 16 January 1816. It was Rev. Hutchings who first petitioned for a "free school". His aim was to provide a school for the orphans and poor children. They were to be educated, fed and clothed. And since they were to be so completely taken care of, he suggested that it should be a boarding school but with room for day scholars. The day scholars were to be taught their own language by "nation teachers", and English would be taught to them only if they desired it. Plan for a girls' school too was included in the petition on the same basis. Free School Established - Infant Years The difficulty of recruiting a suitable teacher delayed the founding of the school until 21 October 1816. The school was first accommodated in a building rented for 50 dollars a month at Love Lane. On this date (21 October 1816) the committee could only admit twenty five boys since it was unable to enlist a lady teacher to teach girls. Coincidentally it was the anniversary of Captain Light's death (21 October 1794), whose tombstone may still be seen in the Protestant cemetery in Northam Road, Penang, where he was buried. First Teachers And Board Of Directors. The first teacher was one Mr. Cox, recruited from Madras and paid a monthly salary of 80 Spanish dollars. When his wife joined him several months later she was appointed as teacher at 50 Spanish dollars a mouth, and a girl's school was founded on 1 July 1817. The committee resigned its care of the school to a Board of Directors who were elected on 18 October 1817. This change in management was to imbue in the inhabitants of Penang a desire to be actively concerned with the progress of the school. From Love Lane To Farquhar Street To Green Lane - The School Moves. At its first meeting, the Board noted that the school was called FREE SCHOOL and that only children who could afford were requested to pay a fee of $3, $2, and $1 per year. Poor children who could not afford to pay any fees were exempted, but every child had to be nominated and accepted before admission to the school. At this meeting too, it was announced that the Government had granted the school a piece of land adjacent to St. George's Church at Farquhar Street. A plan was approved for the construction of a school, plainly designed to save costs to accommodate 100 boys and 50 girls. The successful tender for this project was given to a Chinese contractor who had bid $6,500. It was not until 31 December 1927 that the Penang Free School moved to its present site at Green Lane. On 1 January 1928, the school next to St. George's Church, vacated by FREE SCHOOL was renamed Hutchings School in honour of the late Rt. Rev. Hutchings, who was the prime mover to establish a "free school" for the education of the children in Penang. And because of his key and cardinal role, and support for his concept of a "free school " for all children, he is rightly acknowledged as the founder of the Penang Free School. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Penang Free School」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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