19
on the Gordon College Inspection Committee.
Six months would be enough for the work including
the voyage there and back and possibly less
might do. It is, i am sure, a great mistake
to suppose that the advice of an outsider is
useless. This has been recognised by various
Commissions sent out by the Secretary of State
and by the fact that the Board of Education in
the past have been asked to send officers to
British Guiana and Cyprus. Anyone selected by
the Board of Education for such a job would
have the sense to establish the friendliest re-
lations from the start with the local official
and non-official world and would realise that
his first duty is to obtain information from
those who know the country.
Hong Kong is, with
the possible exception of Malaya, in all edu-
cational matters the most self-satisfied of all
the Dependencies. From the talks I have had
with many officers, educational and otherwise,
from that part of the world I feel sure that in
so far as they recognise any defects in their
system, and such recognition is hard to find,
they think that such defects can be remedied
only by those whose experience is limited to
Hong Kong. On the other hand outsiders who have
visited the place confirm the impression that I
have from the reports that there is very much that
could be mended by a person with fresh ideas
from outside.
And it has to be remembered that
British in fluence in South China depends to some
extent on the kind of education that is provided
not
The
in this Colony. It is merely local effect
of the education system which has to be considered.
As the Mage
17/5/34.
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