10
On the above figures it is clear that there
was a serious drop in attendance at the School
attributable to the military occupation, and
this was by no means entirely recovered immediately
agai
the school took over its new buildings.
ter a statement sent to Mr. Ellis-
enclosure to (4) on this file
-
in June, 1931,
the
nad
Headmaster stated, however, that the numbers
again risen to about 300.
From the above, it seems clear that the
School has suffered a series of misfortunes which
have been, to a large extent, outside the control
of the school authorities.
On the other hand, a definite proposal made
by the Hong Kong Government which would have
enabled the School to repay the loan in full and
to start afresh without further assistance, though
more
on modest
modest lines, has been turned down by the
School authorities and only a very cursory reference
to it is made in their petition (para. 18).
The Govr. has come to the conclusion that for
many years the School has consistently failed to make an effort to adjust itself to its financial
position, and he considers that even if the loan
were cancelled, it is probable that a further
request for financial assistance would sooner or
later be made. Moreover, he sees no justification for giving such exceptionally favourable treatment to the Diocesan Boys School, as the remission
of their debt would represent, when grants and
subsidies to other schools are on a scale which is
admittedly inadequate.
These points seem to me to carry considerable
weight
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