Part VI The Role of the Education Department and the Church
A. The "correct" chronology
Though it was the teachers who first exposed the finan-
cial irregularities of the school, the Education Department
stressed again and again that it was on April 12, 1977 that
the School Management first reported the case to them.
teachers only made their complaint on April 22, 1977.
The
The extra-ordinary stress on the "correct" chronology
issued by the Education Department, no doubt, was a deliberate
move to mislead the public by which it gave the following im-
plications:.
an excuse to
1. The teachers used the financial problems as
cause trouble, when the school authorities asked them to
sign more restrictive contracts.
2. No revengeful action and the subsequent persecutions on
the teachers could be implied as it was the board of Manage-
ment that exposed the irregularities, and Miss Hilda Kwan's
measures, therefore, had nothing to do with revenge.
B. The New Contracts
After the exposure of the misappropiation of school
funds, more restrictive contracts were drafted by the school
managers, one of whom was an Education Department representative. The new contract gave the school Management Committee the power
to dismiss teachers or terminate their contracts without com-
plying with the Code of Aid for Secondary Schools.
the first step taken to revenge on the teachers.
This was
C. The Warning Letters
The students staged a 2-day sit-in to request the school
to clarify the financial irregularities. The Director of Edu-
cation, without giving a shred of evidence, issued 35 warning
letters to all the teachers of the s chool, threatening to de-
prive them of their livelihood since it "appeared" to the Di-
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