13
28.
The
We understand that the appointment of an Education
Department official on the Management Committee of the School,
whilst not unprecedented, was nonetheless a rare step taken
only in exceptional circumstances. In view of the disclosure
of financial mismanagement, it was not unreasonable for the
Education Department, at that point in time, to concentrate
its attention on financial matters in the School.
Education Department official, Mr. P.C. Fung, appointed to
the Management Committee, however, could well have acquainted
himself with the background leading to the disclosure and
the events which followed. It was unfortunate that he did
not do this, or having done so failed to apprise his superiors
in the Department. We were given to understand that he
visited the school premises only once during the entire
period when he was a member of the Management Committee
and that was not until the 10th June 1977, the second day
of the students' sit-in at the School. Thus, whatever
information and views concerning the situation the Department
had were apparently obtained from only one source, i.e. the
Precious Blood Congregation. As a result of this limited
in-put, the Education Department did not take sufficient
cognizance of the following vital factors:
(a)
To the teachers and most of the students in
the School, financial mismanagement was not
only a legal issue, but far more important for them,
a moral one as well;
(b) Irrespective of motives, the act of exposing
financial irregularities, per se, cannot be
regarded as wrongful;
/(c)
....