Harold Cheeseman
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Harold Ambrose Robinson Cheeseman (1890 – 23 November 1961) was an English educator who was founder of the Scouting movement in the Malaysian state of Penang, at the Penang Free School on 27 March 1915, and in the state of Johor at the English College Johore Bahru in 1928.[1]
The Penang Free School Scout troop, comprising two patrols, was formed under Cheeseman as the Scouter-in-charge. Activities in these early days ranged from
In 1925, Scouts and cadets were separated, and soon, the first First Class Scouts on the island were produced. There was also a Wolf Club pack, as Penang Free School was not yet solely a secondary school. When it was decreed that students had to join one of the three major school activities, the number of Scouts increased, and it was decided that each house in the school should have a Scout Troop of its own.
Around 1934, the Scouts of Penang put on a grand display for the occasion of
During the
In 1946, during his tenure as the deputy director of Education for the Straits Settlements, he prepared the Cheeseman Report with the goal of restructuring the curriculum for the vernacular schools. The plan recommended that:
- The provision of free basic education in all media of instruction for all. Primary and secondary vernacular education are permitted to use English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil as the respective medium of instruction.
- English language was introduced as the compulsory subject for all vernacular schools.
- Only two types of secondary school are established which is middle-school and high school
- Vocational education introduced as stated in the 1938 Education Report
The plan was later strongly opposed by Malay nationalists and they refuse to accept equal status for all four language streams of primary education and also the lack of national integration policy and the plan was abandoned in 1949.[2]
In 1961, Cheeseman died suddenly in Ramsgate, where he just been hired as administrator at Hereson School.[3]
References
- ^ Sekaran, Reena (20 February 2021). "Legacy of Penang Free School's sports houses lives on". Free Malaysia Today (FMT). Retrieved 8 February 2024.
- ^ "Cheeseman Report". Sumitra Khan.
- ^ "Loss to Education in the Death of Mr. Cheeseman". East Kent Times and Mail. 24 November 1961. p. 1. Retrieved 8 February 2024.