189
No. 9
1800
HONGKONG.
REPORT OF THE HEAD MASTER OF QUEEN'S COLLEGE AND OF THE EXAMINERS APPOINTED
BY THE GOVERNING BODY FOR 1899.
Laid before the Legislative Council by Command of His Excellency the Governor.
No. 8.
QUEEN'S COLLEGE, HONGKONG, 19th January, 1900,
SIR, --I have the bonour to present the following Report on Queen's College for the year 1899. 1. The total number on Roll was 1,344, the same figure as in 1898. The attendance, however, shows a very marked improvement, 204,021 for 230 instead of 176,867 for 235 days; after reducing attendances of 1898 pro rata to the same number of days 230, we find an increase in 1899 of 30,917 attendances. The highest monthly attendances 1,072, 1,070 and 1,055 actually exceed the total annual rells of the years 1892-1896. The largest number of boys present on one day was 1,031; more than were present in 1895 throughout the whole year.
2. Hence it would appear that we are justified in considering the increased demand for admission, as of a permanent nature. This presents a remarkable contrast to the condition of affairs that existed. in the early sixties, when the offer of free education, including the loan of books, was required to induce Chinese boys to come to the Central School to learn English. The natural conclusion is that the time has come when it is no longer necessary for the Government to continue to provide books, &c., for the pupils. I accordingly recommended that boys at Queen's College should, as at other schools, purchase their own school material; which recommendation on the advice of the Governing Body was approved by His Excellency the Governor (C.S.O. 1094/99). The new rule which came into force from the 1st January, 1900, will cause an additional annual expense to each boy varying from 70 cents to 6 dollars; while, on the other hand, the Government will be relieved of an annual outlay of $1,650.
3. The revenue from fees was $27.245 which is more than double the collection in 1897, and an increase of $5,652 on the amount in 1898. The total expenditure in Cash Book and Crown Agents' Account was $1,460 less than the sum provided in the Estimates. The increase of the Gross Expen- diture by $3,600 is due chiefly to the item Adjustment of Exchange in England, but partly to the increase in Expenditure referred to in para. 7 of my last report.
4. A brief survey of the financial conditions of this institution since its foundation in 1862 is presented in the Table below:-
Average Annual
Total Expenditure.
Attendance, Number of Boys.
YEAR.
Fees.
Net Expense
Cost 10 each Boy.
to
Share of each dollar in cents borne by
Government.
Total. Average.
Boys.
Govt.
161
1864,
1869,
$ 7.07
320
1874,
6.83
1879,
6.30
1884,
12.02
1889,
15.64
1894,
21.21
1,048
1899,
30.72
1,344
218 68% 528 847 61 590 416 70,, 558 411 73 919 597 65 545 51 887 66,,
$1,541.95
$7,465.58
17
83
2,369.25
9,672.94
17
83
2,686.00
14,128.35
15
85
4,981.00
13,378.62
27
73
9,338.00
15,018.30
38
62
J'
11,562.00
25,752.00
31
69
55
27,245.00
14,262.89
66
34
Of 1864 I can find no financial details in the Gazette.
In 1894 the attendances were affected by the plague, and the remission of over $2,000 fees unduly swells the Government share of expense
in that year.
It will be observed that the respective costs to
boys and Government, the figures of which were practically stationary for fifteen years, have been progressing steadily in an inverse ratio since my arrival in 1882.
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