TNAG-0334-FCO40-370-Visits-of-Secretary-of-State-for-Foreign-and-Commonwealth-Af-1972 — Page 101

3.

By and large the local Chinese community welcomed

the policy of parity of subsidy. The expatriate

community on the other hand strongly opposed the

Government's proposal to increase the fees. The

matter was hotly debated in the local press and

a number of Members of Parliament received letters

from Hong Kong on the subject. Petitions were

sent to the Secretary of State by the Joint Council

of Parent/Teacher Associations of the English-

speaking schools and by the Association of European

Civil Servants. The latter organisation at one

point contemplated taking the unprecedented step

of sending a delegation to London to appeal to

the Secretary of State.

4. In reply to this criticism the Government

explained that -

(a) For several years (1965-69) the fees

at the English schools had been held

at an artificially low level;

(b) The increase in fees was necessary as

a result of the implementation of the

policy of parity for educational

subsidies agreed in 1965;

(c) Costings undertaken in 1970 with a view

to reviewing the scale of fees recommended

in 1965 had shown that the English

schools were much more expensive to run

than the equivalent Chinese schools; (a) The principle of parity of subsidy was

accepted by the vast majority of parents

(e),

in Hong Kong; Equitable arrangements

would be made for parents in the lower

income groups.

15.

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