Baolosure No. 4 to Governor's Despatch No. 380
of the 24th. September, 1901.
680
Report on a letter from certain prominent members of the Chinese Community regarding the need for a school for the children
of the Chinese upper classes,
Apart from the question whether there is a real demand for what may be called a Secondary English School for Chinese there are one or two points touched on in this paper (G.S.O.683/1901) which call for some remarks.
One is the question of restriction of admission. This is not a question of money or costs but of morals. In Hongkong there are many Chinese women, the mistresses of Europeans, who could afford to send their children to such a school, and who would be anxious to do so, and it is natural that parents should desire to prevent their children becoming intimate with the members of such families. It is a sine qua non that the Governing Body should have power to refuse admission. The supporters of the Scheme are
it is anticipated that $100,000 can be raised - but they cannot be expected to do so unless they obtain a reasonable assurance that their children will not be compelled to associate with children living in immoral surroundings. The claim is a fair one. Admission to Queen's College and to the Belilisa' Public School is unrestricted, and there is no fear therefore of any child remaining uneducated owing to its being refused admission to the proposed school.
The proposed scheme provides for a Governing Body consisting of seven members, four to be Chinese and elected by the subscribers, and three to be Government Officers. A smaller Governing Body will be more efficient, and as the school is to be conducted by the Government, we are of opinion that the Government should also have a controlling voice in the management, and suggest that the Governing Body should consist of two Chinese Members and two Government Officers, one of the latter to be Chairman and to have a casting vote in addition to his own.
After discussion with Dr. Ho Kai and with other supporters of the Scheme, we have come to the conclusion that an alteration in the proposed scale of fees is desirable. The fees originally proposed were - for the boys' school $48 a year in the junior classes, $84 in the middle and $130 in the senior classes. I recommend that the fees should be raised to $130 a year. This is not too large a sum and at the same time is large enough, and the same fee throughout the school is to be preferred. Otherwise, children may be sent to school for 3 or 4 years and then withdrawn because the fees in the higher classes are too high, and it is most desirable that all the children who attend the school should complete the school course.
On the other hand, we recommend the reduction of the fees in the girls' school to $24.00 a year. The girls' school is in the nature of an experiment, the success of which will not be assured until it becomes the
serious