175
HONG KONG.
No. 8
1927
REPORT OF COMMITTEE OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION ON SCHOOL FEES REVISION: APPROVED BY BOARD OF EDUCATION ON 4TH MAY, 1927.
A. Brief historical memorandum.
1. In 1908, Queen's College fees were $3.50 for the Upper School and $2.00 for the Lower.
In 1909, the fee was raised to a uniform $4.00 and in 1910 to a uniform $5.00.
The increase to $4.00 does not appear from the Headmaster's report for 1909 to have been responsible for a diminution in numbers, but in the 1910 "Report of the. Director of Education'' he stated "The average attendance is 642 as against 805 last year and 911 in 1909. As already stated, this large reduction is the result of the deliberate policy of the Government in reducing the size of classes. It is also due to two further causes. The increased fees caused a number of boys to leave earlier than they would otherwise have done, and an act of indiscipline towards the end of the year resulted in the expulsion of a considerable number of boys".
2. The fees at the District Schools (Sai Ying Pun, Wantsai, Yaumati) were $2.00 in 1908, $3.00 for new boys in 1909, in 1910 all $3.00 except Sai Ying Pun new boys who paid $4.00, and from 1911 all a uniform $3.00.
The Director of Education in his 1909 report wrote that the increase had no ap- parent effect on the numbers seeking admission. In his 1910 report he wrote "Experi- ence has shewn that the fee of $3.00 per mensem is not too much. But the further increase of $4.00 at Sai Ying Pun has proved a check on attendance and it has been decided to make the fee at that school the same as at the other two".
Ellis Kadoorie School was taken over by Government in 1915, and took rank as a District School at the same fee, $3.00 a month.
3. Belilios Public School in 1909 paid three different fees according to classification of pupils, 50 cts., $1.00, and $1.50.
In 1910 a uniform fee of $1.00 was charged, and from 1913 this was raised to a uniform $2.00, "with no ill effect upon the attendance".
4. The Indian School monthly fee was $1.00 until 1917, when it was raised to $2.00, without any decrease in numbers.
5. Gap Road School, which in 1922 took the place of Praya East School, continued to pay $2.00, and that figure has not been raised.
6. The Country Schools (Tai Po, Cheung Chau, Un Long) all paid 50 cents till 1923, when Taipo only was raised to $1.00. Mr. Mould was then in charge and Mrs. Mould also taught in the school.
Since Mr. Mould's departure attendance has decreased.
7. The Vernacular Middle School inaugurated in 1926, and the Vernacular Normal School for Women pay $2.00.