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were working in Hong Kong, it would not be hazardous to expect that the increase of students from China proper would more than offset the loss of students from Malaya. The opening of prospects of appointments in the superior services in Hong Kong to Chinese, which we understand to be the policy of His Majesty's Govern ment would almost certainly accentuate the increase of students of Hong Kong domicile which in any case, though to a less measure, would be result of the steady growth of secondary education in English in the Colony. The very acute recognition of the importance of English in modern China will again tend to in- crease the number of Chinese from interior China who will wish to attend Hong Kong schools where English teaching is very much better than in schools in China. The same consideration will be of weight in the selection of the place of University studies.
•
It seems therefore not reasonable to estimate that by 1948, when conditions will be nearly normal, the increase between 1927 and 1937 (excluding the war increase and interim) will be continued: that the number of students in the Univer sity will be not less than 650 (about one being women) of whom something in the region of 450 will have had the greater part of their school education in Hong Kong and of these not less than 350 will be able to establish domicile in the Colony.
(D.J.Sloss)
23rd. September, 1946.
i
Note:
It is not without significance that in June of this year, in spite of the dead period educationally from which the Colony has just emerged, 220 students paid fees for an examination of matriculation standard conducted by the University of London in Hong Kong. About 165 completed the examination; of these about 100 are likely to be declared eligible for entrance to the University in Hong Kong.