N 2
REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE.
(Tables I, II, IV, VII, VIII and IX.)
After deducting the school fees received, the total nett expenditure on education was $216,848 ($195,916 in 1913). This is, by nearly $20,000, the largest amount spent in any year on education in the Colony. The increase is mainly in connection with the Education Ordinance.
The ratio which expenditure on education bears to the total revenue of the Colony is 20%, and is the lowest it has been since 1906.
2. School and Technical Institute fees amounting to $75,792 were collected ($73,248 in 1913). In addition $3,566 fees were remitted to free scholars, ($3,759 in 1913).
3. The cost of the Government Schools is compared in Table I with the average of preceding years. The increases at Queen's College and the British Schools are noteworthy, and are considered under those heads below.
CLASSIFICATION OF SCHOOLS.
4. It is convenient to follow the classification of the Education Ordinance, and distinguish schools as those to which the Ordinance does, or does not apply. The latter fall into two divisions (a) Government Schools which are under the direct control of the Education Department, and (b) the Military Schools and certain others with which the Department does not concern itself in any way: Excluded Schools. The schools to which the Ordinance does apply may be called Controlled Schools. They fall into three classes (a) Grant Schools, those which are in receipt of a Grant under the written contract with the Government called the Grant Code, (b) all others (Private Schools) whatsoever except (c) Subsidised Schools, certain schools in the New Territories which as a temporary measure are in receipt of a small subsidy, and which partake of the character of both Government (i.e., Departmentally controlled) and Grant Schools. The schools are considered in this order in the following paragraphs.
SCHOOLS TO WHICH THE ORDINANCE DOES NOT APPLY.
GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS.
(Table I.)
5. Kowloon British School.-The average attendance at Kowloon School was 52 (62 in 1913). Five German children left. A playground has been made behind the school, of which full advantage has been taken. The boys have the use of a football ground twice a week.