CO129-603-3 Education Department- revised grant code 24-1-1949 - 28-12-1949 — Page 51

No.20

57923/4

(2) on 248

so 2.

ACEC (OT)(49) 6

ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION IN THE COLONIES

OTHER TERRITORIES SUB-COMMITTEE

Private-school fees in Hongkong

In connection with Paragraph 1 of the 4th Minutes of the meeting held on 7th December 1948 the following explanation has been received from Mr. Rowell:-

تھا

23

48

"In the matter of the fees in private schools and the apparent contradiction between the minutes of the moeting of 16th July, 1948 and my memorandum on the Block Grant System, the position is that private schools submit to this Department their proposed scale of fees together with an estimate of their income and expenditure. If the fees are such as to cover expenditure and allow reasonable profit then this scale of fees is published in the Government Gazette. Should the fees be of such a nature as to produce excessive profit this is pointed out to the Manager and he is urged to consider reduction. We have no actual power to prevent the Manager of a private school charging what fecs he likes provided they are gazetted, but once gazetted he is not allowed to increase those fees without permission from this Department and in order to obtain that permission he must produce very good reasons for so doing.

The effect of this legislation has been to reduce to some extent the fees in those schools where they were previously unduly high since the possibility of comparison by the public of the fees charged in various schools has tended to standardise them.

You will therefore see that in the initial publication of the scale of fees in the Gazette, they can, if they insist, charge whatever amount they wish but thereafter can only raise their fees with permission."

Colonial Office,

15, Victoria Street, S.W.1.

25th February, 1949.