NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN
W(B)L 51-7406
THE GOVERNMENT'S POLICY EXPLAINED
In reply to criticismy the Government
explained the reasons for the increasesy as
follows
(a) for several years(1965-9) the fees at English
speaking schools had been held artificially low;
the implementation (b) the increases were merely aetep to impleme
for educational
а
op
e policy of parity subsidy agreed in 1965;
(c) Costing undertaken in 1970 to review the
fees as recommended in the 1965 White Paper had prised that
I
shown the greater expunse involved in running
were much more expenance to run ken
the English schools the Chinese schools, (a) the principle of parity was accepted by the
vast majority of parents in Hong Kong;
(e) cuitable arrangements would be made for
parents likely to suffer hardship.
FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS
In early 1971 the Government had set up a
they can
for
whnch
A
Salaries' Commission X-whose brief included
examination of educational arrangements for the
children of Government servants. The Commission
recommended a system of educational allowances
22
for civil servants and, on July, the Government
announced that it had postponed the introduction
school
of fee increases from 1 September 1971 to
1 January 1972 in order to consider this
and a
educational allowance scheme,
general fee remission scheme.
new
In mid-November detailed proposals on the
general fee remission scheme and local educatior
allowances were considered by the Executive
Council and Finance Committee. The outcome of the
discussions was to defer the proposals so that
further details of the costs of operating the
English-spea ing schools could be made to Council
/.... members