TNAG-0334-FCO40-370-Visits-of-Secretary-of-State-for-Foreign-and-Commonwealth-Af-1972 — Page 106

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would suffer real hardship unless aided in some

way by the Government.

THE GOVERNMENT'S POLICY EXPLAINED

5.

In reply to criticism the Government explained

the reasons for the increases as follows:-

(a)

(b)

for several years (1965-69) the fees at

English-speaking schools had been held

artificially low;

the increases were merely the implementation

of a policy of parity for educational

subsidies agreed in 1965;

(c) costing undertaken in 1970 to review

the fees as recommended in the 1965

White Paper had proved that English

schools were much more expensive to run

than Chinese schools;

(a)

the principle of parity was accepted by

and

the vast majority of parents in Hong

Kong;

(e) equitable arrangements would be made for

parents likely to suffer hardship.

FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS

6. In carly 1971 the Government had set up a

Salaries' Commission the brief for which included

the examination of educational arrangements for

the children of Government servants. The Commission

recommended a system of educational allowances for

civil servants and, on 22 July, the Government

announced that it had postponed the introduction

of school fee increases from 1 September 1971 to

1 January 1972 in order to consider this educati onal

allowance scheme and a new general fee remission

scheme.

/7.