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Miss Bascombe, Miss Anderson, Miss Burslem (now employed in Kenya) and Miss Wickett who informed me that she did not know whether she would come back or not.
In addition there were six permanent members of the Department who were killed or died during internment and replacements would be necessary for these in due course.
e are, however, almost entirely without a teacher of Geography with the exception of S.G. Davis, who would be fully occupied with the work at the Northcote Training College in Handwork and Geography. We also shall need urgently a replacement for Miss Hall, who retired before 1941, as there is no one qualified in art here with the exception of Mrs. Ashton-Hill, who again will be required for fulltime work at the Northcote Training College.
The Cinderella of education in Hong Kong in the past has been Vernacular Schools. There were two Government Vernacular Schools, one for men and one for women, and in addition a District School in Un Long in the New Territories, Kowloon. In the last Annual Report dated March 1941, the Director had expressed his intention of increasing the number of Government Vernacular Schools. This also we have been carrying out as far as possible in the present conditions and now have four Government Vernacular
chools in being. We propose to open two more shortly, one in the old Indian School, as there are practically no Indians left in the Colony, and the other at the former Un Long School.
The Annual Report for 1940/1941 shows the intention to build large Government Vernacular Schools, but here again we are faced with the same rosition as in the cases of King's and Queen's College, a shortage of building material and I fear that it will be some time before we can get going on new buildings.
I think this sets out fairly well our present position and intentions which I have tried to keep as far as possible on the lines foreshadowed by Mr. Sollis. We have branched out in one direction by subsidising five schools for the chi dren of the fishermen and these have been particularly welcomed by the fishing community. That, I think, covers the whole ground and I should be very pleased if at some time you would let me have your reactions to our resent position and, particularly, the question of staff. I am sending this as a S.-O. letter to you but will endeavour to have its contents translated into a more official letter probably to Mr. Gent.
Since writing the above I have shown this letter to Walton asking for any further suggestions. Walton, by the way, is doing a very fine job of work and is on very good terms indeed with the Heads of the Grant Schools and is willing to go out of his way to give all the assistance he can. His work at this particularly difficult period deserves praise.
He points out that I have omitted to mention that we have established an experimental Vernacular School in conjunction with the N.T.C. This school is now open under the Headship of a former graduate of the N.T.C., and is staffed entirely by N.T.C. students. In this connection I have also omitted the Principal of the College. I am not sure what my own position will be when the Civil Government returns but if it is necessary to have a new frincipal for the N.T.C., then I would suggest that the only man who could take it over would be Mr. W.J. Dyer, who was my Senior Assistant on the English side from 1939 to 1941 and who
/Thoroughly