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31. But such graduation in Europe is, if not preceded, invariably followed (as well as accompanied during University vacations) by a rigorous practical training in commercial workshops. The best of laboratories, we are satisfied, is for this pur- pose of little value compared with the discipline of real workshops. Skill of a high order may be attained in the former, but there cannot be the discipline and the constant economic precautions against wastage that the workshop provides.
32. And it is just here that, in our view, the University fails. The graduates who have profited by local practical training are found to be almost entirely non- Chinese; and even the Chinese graduates if they go to Europe readily accommodate themselves to the environment of dock or factory. What the University's founders could not be expected to foresee was that the Chinese undergraduate during vaca- tion or the Chinese graduate after finishing his course will not take orders in Hong Kong from an uneducated foreman; and that that foreman will not give orders to that student, whether in the two large Docks or in the Railway shops or any- where else. It is seldom safe to generalise in this way, but this conclusion is forced upon us from the unanimous evidence of those who know.
33. The other factor which the founders of the University could not foretell was the growth in recent years of capable rival institutions in China proper which not only provide an adequate, if not perhaps an equivalent, training at about one- fifth of the cost, but moreover have in many cases the advantage of benevolent support from elsewhere, particularly from the United States.
34. As has already been indicated, those engineering students who after graduation have profited by the generosity and far-sighted policy of certain firms and institutions, and have undergone an apprenticeship in the United Kingdom have, according to our information, fully justified the experiment. But their total number has only been fourteen, and two of these are not of Chinese race. Incidentally we observe that out of this total nine have taken electrical training, four mechanical, and one civil.
35. We advise that this system should be greatly expanded if this is possible, but this means that there must be constant personal contact with the English engineer- ing firms and their representatives in Hong Kong and China. We consider that Hong Kong will have done its proper share in the process by bringing the students as far as graduation, and that it is for the Imperial interests concerned to be persuaded to provide, as at present but to a greater degree, the practical workshop training whereby the objects in view can be attained. But Hong Kong University should endeavour to set aside funds for at least one two-years' scholarship to England in order to point the way to others, and to have means for bringing on some of its more brilliant men for eventual use on its own teaching staff.
36. From what has been said it will be clear that we consider that the students selected for such a training should, apart from those required by the University itself, be such as will probably carry the "little leaven" of British engineering back into China proper rather than those who propose to earn their living in Hong Kong.
37. We do not consider that this in any way invalidates our previous conclu- sions (a) that the Engineering Faculty should continue and (b) that its pretensions and cost should be restricted. It is clear that there is still a vast need for engineer- ing knowledge in China and it is important to retain the present framework of the Faculty ready for the expansion which a closer contact with China (and a greater realization by her of the advantages which Hong Kong University can offer) may well bring in their train. It is tempting from the immediate practical point of view to suggest that the present expenditure on the Faculty could be better employed in providing students with an engineering degree in an English provincial University with all the facilities for practical training on the spot. But there is the language difficulty; there is the danger of complete loss of touch with Chinese life and senti- ment; and there is the vital consideration of prestige.