MINISTRY OF OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT Eland House Stag Place London SW1E 5DH
S T Kidd Esq., Commissioner,
Hong Kong Government Office,
6 Grafton Street,
London, W.1.
Telephone 01 -828 4366
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Toplay Stunt
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Your reference
Our reference
Date
15 August 1974
IN CONFIDENCE
Dear Mr Kidd,
Mr Topley visited the Chief Education Adviser and me yesterday and we were very pleased to meet him and to have a most interesting and wide-ranging discussion on the Hong Kong education situation, generally.
of Education. crystallized.
Among the topics considered was the post of Adviser to the Director
It was agreed that the thinking on this needs to be further At present it can be looked at as a post for either (a) a youngish man who can be viewed as undergoing in-harness training and ultimately to succeed the present Director, or
(b) an older, widely experienced educationist of some standing who would be appointed for a relatively short period (about two years) and whose brief would be to define recommended parameters for development, adaptation, modification and innovation.
It was
The consensus at yesterday's meeting was that (b) should be the choice. agreed, also, and this we recommend to you, that the next step should be to advertise the post publicly. We advise, also, since Mr Topley is now in England, that advantage be taken of his advice when defining the post for advertisement, although we understand that the original proposal for an Adviser came from the Governor and not from him. We, of course, shall continue to be available for consultation whenever you feel this would be helpful..
During the meeting the subject of Mr Topley's attachments also was considered. We agreed to think in terms of and try and arrange a programme centering essentially on London and involving contacts with the ILEA, the DES the British Council (including the ex-CEDO facet) the IUC and TETOC. Over and above this we hope that it will be possible to fit in visits to the Liverpool and Aberdeen (or some comparable) authorities to meet one or two eminent educationists outside the London area.
Yours sincerely,
1. Griffiths
I Griffiths (Education Adviser)