CO129-562-3 Vacancies in education departments 27-5-1937 - 8-12-1937 — Page 41

HONG KÖNG CHIEF INSPECTOR OF SCHOOLS

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1.

The three Board of Education candidates

were interviewed by Sir Andrew Caldecott, Mr.

Gent and myself on 14th June. It was agreed that

I should draft a statement of our impressions for

amendment if necessary, or supplementing by Sir

Andrew Caldecott and Mr. Gent. It will, I think,

final

be convenient if I add my views, to which Sir

Λ

Andrew Caldecott and Mr. Gent will no doubt

attach their own.

2.

We agreed before the interview that, in

the light of previous correspondence and minuting,

we must bear in mind the probability of the

Directorship of Education becoming vacant within

the next two years, and the suitability of candi-

dates for promotion to that post. Of the three

candidates, only Mr. Nicol asked us about the

prospect of such promotion. He was told that if

the post fell vacant his claims would be considered

on their merits. He did not seem to require any

further assurance. No doubt the Board's proposal

for secondment in the first instance, to which no

objection has been raised so far by the Colonial

Office, has made the candidates less anxious on

this point.

3.

We were all agreed in placing Mr.

Gibbon below the other two, not on grounds of

experience or ability, which were quite satisfac-

tory, but with reference to personality and

Coll

temperament, so far as we en gauge it.

I may

add that the Board of Education papers about him