FROM THE PRINCIPAL
THE REV. G. L, SPEAK, M.A.
TELEPHONES :
H-2471 3 5.
H-24713 6.
Ref:
Mr. Anthony Royle M.P., c/o Mr. J. A. M. Tinson, Secretary, Urban Council, Central Government Offices, West Wing, 12th floor, HONG KONG.
ISLAND SCHOOL,
BOWEN ROAD.
HONG KONG,
12 October 1970
33
Dear Mr. Royle,
Mrs. Symons has asked me to let you have copies of the reports on the development of secondary education in Hong Kong which were prepared by our Association of Heads of Secondary Schools.
The larger document was the original report, finally published in 1969 and the subject of some discussion with the Director of Education.
The smaller "press release" was agreed early this year (before any announcement of Government's plans for secondary development) as an attempt to state in brief the views of responsible heads of schools on the priorities.
The Secretary of the Association and I had a lengthy discussion with the Director a couple of weeks ago on the present position, and the Director is going to discuss his plans again with the Association at the end of this month.
My personal view at the moment is that we need to impress upon Government a sense of urgency. We must move as fast as possible towards universal education up to the age of 15, and to do so we need extremely urgent action on the recruitment and training of teachers and on syllabus revision.
1
Unfortunately the problems of recruiting suitable teachers are aggravated by Government's lack of a salaries agreement for the teaching profession. It was in June 1965 that the Legislative Council adopted the White Paper on Educational Policy which included a statement that the principle of equal salary scales for teachers in government and in aided schools was accepted. Since that time there has been no further information from Government on this vital issue. The doubts about the future of the profession thus created have completely undermined recruitment, and without some assurance as to the financial future there is little point in increasing scope for training, as there are far too few recruits coming forward already.
With all best personal wishes,
Yours sincerely,
c.c. Mrs. J. Symons,
Diocesan Girls School.
Jh Slech
fl ssd.
Chairman, Association of
Heads of Secondary Schools.
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