HONG
Carfilential
KONG UNIVERSITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE
QA
84
H. R. J. A.C. No. 38
to Pr, I of the Report of the Hong Kong University
An Alternative to Advisory Committer
3. D.
13 MAY 1315
fully re- presentative of British academic stan- dards and to make it
co
The Major Recommendations of the Committer
COMMENDATION.
1. We are unanimous in recommending that the University
of Hong Kong should be reestablished as soon as possible on a
firm financial basis, with staff and facilities adequate to
make it an effective centre for Sino-British contact in the
sphere of learning.
We are of opinion that the restoration of the
University on its inadequate pre-war basis would be disastrous to British prestige in the Far East and that if it is not to be restored on a worthy standard, it should not be revived at all in spite of the immediate loss of prestige and the
political repercussions that would follow.
2. We do not regard the higher education needs of the
Colony itself as justifying the creation of a University.
The University is needed as a representation in the Far East
of British scholarship and as a centre capable of taking advantage of the unique opportunities presented for cooperation
between British and Chinese learning at the point of junction
between the two civilizations. We the refore recommend that
the capital and recurrent expenditure involved, which we
tentatively estimate at £1 million and £100,000 per annum,
should be met from Imperial sources, except for a contribution
We from the Colony on the scale of its pre-war support. express the hope that His Majesty's Government may consider inviting some of the Dominion Governments to participate in providing the necessary funds for this British centre of
learning in the Far East.
3. We consider that the University should be reconstruct-
ed as an autonomous institution and on a permanent basis,
far as buildings, endowment and other arrangements are concerned, because its unique functions and its representational character will endure even if there are changes in the
SO
political status of Hong Kong.
4.