CO129-591-3 Education Department- revised grant code 24-10-1945 - 11-12-1945 — Page 39

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intelligence at the end of the first year.

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As a rule, 25 to 30 per cent of the students failed and rarely more than a single failure occurred at the end of the second year. I am also taking into account the fact that most of them were engaged in teaching in China during the war and I have had excellent reports of their work and conduct.

Through General S.K. Yee, who is Chinese Liaison Officer in Hong Kong, I am getting in touch with Mr. Hanly Wu, Vice-President of the Ministry of Education in Chungking, and will presently invite him to come down to Hong Kong on a visit. I should very much like to have closer contact with the Chinese Ministry of Education, and I am particularly anxious that the teaching certificates gained at the Northcote Training College should be recognised by the Ministry in Chungking so that the teachers themselves would have a wider field of employment and, at the same time, be able to foster Anglo-Chinese cultural relationships.

The Hong Kong University has been surveyed by the works Department and while the damage is severe, it does not appear to be so great as was first thought. The fifth year Medical course is already in being and it is hoped to be able to open other courses in September. For this purpose it will

be necessary to conduct an entrance examination on the lines of Matriculation, and I will consult with Dr. Gordon King on the best method of doing this.

In my previous communication I asked if you would let me know whether the new Grant Code had received the approval of the Secretary of State. All the Education Department's records have been destroyed but we have been handed a file by Mr. Li Shiu Fan, who was a member of the Board of Education, in which it appears that the Secretary of State approved in principle by a telegram dated the 25th of June, 1941. Mr. Walton and I have gone very carefully through the Grant Code and have found several ambiguous or unexplained portions of it. Following our meeting with the Heads of the Grant Schools, we held a further meeting with the Managers and Grant School Council, which included the Bishop of Hong Kong and Father Patrick Joy, S.J., During this meeting, where it was again made clear that the principle of the Code was not in question, discussion took place on various minor points and a number of amendments were put forward with the object of forwarding them at a later date with an official despatch to the Secretary of State. The meeting again was an extremely friendly one and no heated arguments developed. The Bishop was perhaps more antagonistic to the general principles of the Code than anyone else; as Sollis will probably tell you, he always has been. I made him realise, however, from the first, that there could be no question of a radical alteration in the Code or of attempting, as he appeared to desire, to work out a new one. Personally, I think that the Code as it stands, particularly with the amendments if they can be approved, gives an extremely fair deal to all denominations. I hope these amendments will be ready for forwarding by the end of this month.

I now come to the question of staff. Practically all the European staff of the Education Department are now on leave with the exception of Mr. Walton, Miss Stephen, Madame Marty and myself. I attach to this letter a list of the complete staff together with those who have been killed. The majority of these members of the Education