53611/12/47
C.D.W.A.C. No. 891
57
12
1.
HONG KONG
Apprentice scholarships in United Kingdom for graduates of Hong Kong University
Application for an Interim Free Grant of £1.000
Before the war there was in existence a scheme whereby, with the co-operation of the Federation of British Industries and various engineering firms in this country, arrangements were made for a number of engineering graduates of Hong Kong University to be apprenticed in the United Kingdom for the purpose of further training and experience. Free passages were provided by a British shipping company and financial aid was given by the British Council and from the Boxer Indemnity Fund.
2. These arrangements followed those adopted under the original F.B.I. scheme for graduates from Chinese universities which is financed by the Chinese Government, who pay return passages and incidental expenses and supplement the wages of students (which vary from £2. 10.0d to £5. 0. Od per week) so as to bring up their. net income to £30 per month.
3. After the occupation of the Colony, a number of Hong Kong students found their way to Pree China and, in December, 1943, the British Ambassador raised the question of whether arrangements could be inade to send selected engineering graduates from Hong Kong to this country under a similar arrangement to that existing before the war. The F.B. I. agreed to lend their assistance, but fee passages were, of course, not available, nor could any assistance be obtained from the Boxer Indemnity Fund. As to the British Council, it had been decided, as a matter of policy, that the Council's awards should be confined to those of an educational and cultural nature! In these circumstances, it was agreed that the total cost of bringing a limited number of engineering graduates from Hong Kong to this country and maintaining them here for two ye are should be met from Hong Kong Government funds.
4.
Ten scholarships were advertised and candidates were interviewed by a panel set up under the authority of the Ambassador in Chungking, but, for political reasons, the Chinese Governmen“ then made difficulties in granting the necessary exit permits, months of delay followed, and the war in the Far East was over before the selected students were free to travel.
It was, therefore, decided that the awards should be limited to fire in the first instance covering candidates from the Chungking and Yurman Fo areas, and that further apprenticeships should be awarded in 1946 for Hong Kong graduates in the coastal areed.
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5. For the reasons set out in Colonial office letter No. 53611/12 of 6th December, 1944, it was decided at that time that this scheme should be financed from liong Kong Government funds and not from a grant made under the Solonial Development and Welfare Act. The Treasury concurred in this decision in their letter S.51356 of 9th December, 1944, but pointed out that this was a scheme: which could have been financed under the Colonial Development and Welfare Act. The first five students arrived in this country in
coln H.K
/1946
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