Director of Education in Hong Kong.
14
9 un 3w73
Minutes in 83053
ماما
1 on 92587 below
1.
The S of S, in confidential despatch 15/11/27
paragraph 8 to Hong Kong and Malaya, said that the
fact that the post of Director of Education is held
by a cadet officer and not by a professional educa-
tionist "lowers the prestige of the whole educational
service. on the occasion of a vacancy I think it
very desirable that the post should be filled by an
educationist and, if possible, from the existing staff
of the Education Department".
• •
2. Prior to Mr. Woods vacating the post I dis-
cussed the prospects with Mr. Southorn, Colonial Sec-
retary, and minuted my impression that it was the in-
tention of the Hong Kong Government to appoint another
cadet in Mr. Woods' place when he went on. Mr.
Southorn talked about experience of administrative
work, contacts with secretariat and official world, etc
as though they were, as indeed they may be in the Hong
Kong official world, confined to the cadets.
3.
As foreseen in my minute the Governor, when Mr. Woods went higher, proposed a cadet, Mr. Smith, i
his place.
He referred it is true to the Secretary
of State's instructions. He would have recommended
Mr. de Martin, Senior Inspector of Schools, "had he been
willing to stay". Mr. de Martin had been acting as
Director for some time. I gather from a subsequent
talk with him that he had never been told that he would
be recommended for the post if he stayed on. Apparen-
tly also the Governor would have recommended Mr.
Sutherland, another Inspector of Schools, had he not
been "just about to retire". The Governor thought it
most desirable that the officer selected should have
before him a long tenure of the post". Mr. Smith was reported to "understand that he would be expected to