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Much has been said recently in England about the advantages accruing from independent examinations in schools and even in universities; but it is not to be denied that many large schools are still examined by their Staff.
The small size of Hongkong and its immense distance from England deprive it of the opportunity of obtaining independent examination by duly qualified men.
"There is no one in Hongkong except the Head Master (and his substitute the Second Master) who can be said to be sufficiently conversant with the ordinary school subjects to be recognised as authority, either in setting the questions, or in correcting the answers. It is only by constant contact with the usual school subjects - Grammar, Geography, History, Shakespeare, Arithmetic, Algebra, Euclid, Mensuration, Trigonometry, Latin, etc. - that mastery of their details can be retained.
A commission of three acting annually in concert would, apart from the above difficulty, be attended by executive difficulties, such as - the length of time absorbed in discussing each of the 4000 odd papers.
...and the dissatisfaction caused to the staff by having their year's work criticised by those who are less acquainted than themselves with the subject examined. It must also be borne in mind that the judgment required in valuing the front of the mental exertions of boys of all ages and nationalities can only be acquired by long experience and intimate acquaintance with the mental capacities of the boys themselves.
It is not possible to have the College examined by the Oxford Delegacy or Cambridge Syndicate. Experience has shown that four to six months must elapse between the date of examination in Hongkong and receipt of Results from England. This would subvert the organisation of the College. No promotions known and each boy's place ascertained by total of marks. Boys in the interim would leave school without certificates of proficiency. There is further the serious question of the heavy expense attending the examination of nearly 1000 boys at such a distance.
Under any circumstances it is absolutely necessary for the Head Master to see all the papers done by each boy, before he can be reasonably satisfied that he is justified in assigning him to any higher class for the following year.
From a party point of view the bare statistics of Attendance and Expenditure are the only details that need appear in the Inspector's general view of the Education of the Colony. There is no loss to Comparative Educational humanity as D'Este has year after year declared in his Annual Reports that no comparison whatever can be instituted between Victoria College and the other schools in the Colony.