(b) To make arrangements for the travel of students
to their ultimate destinations.
(c) To facilitate the entry of students Into Cinese
Universities and to secure for then equal privi- leges with other Chinese students.
71
ar. Han Lih-wu, the chaimman of the Comittee, has given
■ great deal of assistance to students on their arrival in Chungking and has spent a large amount of time and trouble in negotiating for their entrance into Jentral University and other educational
institutions.
FUTURE PROBLEMS. As the work outlined above has expanded a number of problems have presented themselves. Chief among these is the late date at which many of the students have arrived in Free China. It is not easy to arrange for travel and to allocate a student to a niversity long after the teaching session nas commenced, and it is felt that a time limit will have to be set beyond walch students will not be eligible for assistance. Piis matter is now further complicated by the fact that students who vere la the ong aong Volunteer Jefence Corps and were treated as prisoners of war by the Japanese have now been released, and some of then have just arrived in Free China hoping to continue their education. It is hoped that some form of preferential treatment can be arranged for these students.
A further problem concerns the nature of the degree to be awarded to the students at the end of their studies. Two alternatives present themselves, either that the student should definitely trans- fer to a Chinese University and take the degree of that University, or that the student should be regarded as a guest student, hoping ultimately to receive a hong kong University degree. Another matter of considerable Importance, which is being taken up with the General Medical Council of Great critain, concerns the future recognition by the British Authorities of the qualification of the ong kong students of Medicine. the tabies presented above show that the majority of the Hong Kong University medical students are interested ultimately in practising their profession in areas where a British qualification, and recognition by the General Medical Council, have previously been demanded. All students of Medicine in long dong are registered with the General Medical Council at the end of their first year of study and a strong plea la being put forward to the Council for the recog- nition of the qualification of all such students when they reach the end of their course. A point of incidental interest, whilst dealing wija academic matters, is that the University weal has been recently smiggled out of Hong Kong from under the very nose of the Japanese, and is now in safe keeping until it is again needed.
Other problems concern the difficulties which students face in procuring the books and instruments necessary for the pursuit of their studies. There is an acute shortage, amounting to veritable famine, of these things. The prices of books and technical equipment, even when obtainable, have soared to unbelievable heights. Instruments such as microscopes, &t fifty or a hundred thousand dollars apiece, must perforce be regarded as equipment which only an institution can possess. At the same time, a student cannot study medicine without having a scalpel and dissecting forceps and a stethoscope. The hall mark of an engineer is the possession of a good slide rule. O student can progress with his studies without access to the standarû text books, and even when procurable the task of reading then at night by the light of an oli lamp or candie in the four-berth cubicle of a temporary dormitory is not inconsiderable. These matters constitute major problems, and their solution is by no means easy. Toney alone is not the answer to these questions. The provision of transport facilities for the import of essential articles of small bulk from India, Great Britain or America is one essential requirement if the problem is to be solved. Another practical way of tackiing the difficulty would be the setting up of facilities for the printing or duplication of text books or synopses of teaching material under the direction of the heads of departments in the various universities
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.