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CHINESE EDUCATIONA
SIR F. LUGARD AND HONG- KONG UNIVERSITY.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES. Sir, Since the Boxer indemnity is to be applied principally to Chinese educa-
tion, may 1, as the representative of the Hong-kong University on the Empire Bureau, &c., point out how useful its i agency may he in this matter ?
It is not an exotic institution foisted Lupon China. It was founded by the
generosity of leading Chinese in Hong- kong and Malays, of the Canton Govern- ment, and British firms (notably Messrs. Swire). The Pakin Government and four Provincial Governments, among Its others.
maintain scholarships. students, chiefly Chinese, include many from North China, and even from Austin- lasia, Siam, and Java.
The better to train the character of its atudents, it is residential, with five hostels, all full. Its success in this respect waAS proved in the recent political strikes. Its professorial staff and its atmosphere are Its ssentially British and unsectarian, standard is that of British University degrees; its medical degrees are recog nized by the General Medical Council. It' is affiliated to Oxford and Cambridge, and has at present threr Faculties-Medicine, Engineering, and Arts (including com mexe, the training of teachers and of the
! men who intor will guide the political des- tinies of China), Its matriculation and loral examinations have determined the standard of socondary education in British schoola throughout China, and largely in British and Dutch Indies,
The rapidi ingrasse, of late, in the num- ber of students testifies even more than its academic successes to the position it occupies, and the Associated Chambers of Cominerce, no less than the mission schools, now recognize it as the natural beat of the British educational system in China. The Rockefeller Foundation (New York) has offered a grant of $300,000 (Mex) to the Medical Faculty on conditions which will necessitate the expanditure of a somewhat larger aum, including the building of a new hostel. For this purpose an appeal has been issued, to which H.R.H. the Prince of Wales-the latest hon. graduate of the Cniversity—has graciously given his sup. port. The appeal says :---
It insistake for a student, at the age at which he first begins to face the serious problems of life, to be entirely separated from the world in which he has grown up, and in Noting which he must be passed.
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but good. however, cab come from sending selected students of character already formed for advanced study in Europe. American chicationists pressed doubts as to the wisdom of the present policy, and the present condition of China seems to show hat denationalized | Chinamen have done their country little good. The advocates of additional uni- ! versities in China, apart from other serious difficulties, probably fail to realize the great cost of a modem university. which with endowment, buildings, and equipment can hardly be estimated at less than two and a half millions; or that the supply of students with sufficient knowledge of English to benefit by ad- Presum- vanced instruction is limited. ably, it is better to have one thoroughly satisfactory than several inefficient.
Hong-kong requires :—
(1) Increased endowment fund. yielding approximately the income (£80,000) recently estimated as the minimum necesary for a univemky by Privy Council Committee. (9) About 210,000 to qualify for the Ameri call grant lucluding a new hostel. (3) Endow- meal of several post-graduate scholarships in England (4) Allated British college also require amistance in order to maintain the supply of English-speaking students.
The inclusion of several business men on the Finance Committee guarantees the prudent management of the University's income-the endowment fund is a trust, the principal of which cannot be drawn upon.
Your obedient servant,
F. D. LUGARD. Abinger Common, Surrey.
TIMES.
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