TNAG-0534-FCO40-629-UK-aid-to-Hong-Kong-Polytechnic-and-technical-institutions-1975 — Page 61

In Confidence

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1.

INTRODUCTION

My visit was divided into two parts the Technical Education

Branch of the Education Department of the Hong Kong Government, and

the Hong Kong Polytechnic. These constituted two separate self-

contained items, but in practice there was a good deal of

inter-relation. In each case my objective was familiarisation,

feed-back and the possibility of improved recruitment procedures

and practices that might follow.

2. Both sections of my visit commenced under unusual circumstances.

In the case of the Education Department it was known that the

Hong Kong Government had plans to transfer recruitment to their

Commissioner's Office in London : if this had happened my visit

would have been a waste of time and money. As regards the Hong Kong

Polytechnic, which is in any case in the throes of expanding from

a student population of 1500 in 1972 to a target of 8000 in 1978,

there has been no Director since Mr. Old left in June. This had

an adverse effect on the management of the Polytechnic which in

turn had repercussions on the arrangements

attitude of people I met.

for my visit and on the

3. By good fortune my visit was however timed to enable me to

secure a decision by the Hong Kong Government to continue

recruitment through TETOC : and as I later discovered, this will

have prevented a consequential transfer of Polytechnic recruitment

likewise to the Hong Kong Commissioner's Office in London. The

long-term outlook for the Polytechnic is also improved in that

Dr. K.L.C. Legg, TETOC's favoured candidate, was selected and

offered the appointment of Director while I was in Hong Kong.

4. My visit had a useful prelude due to the fact that for personal

reasons I arrived in Hong Kong late on Monday 4th November, five

days ahead of my official invitation. This enabled me to prepare

the ground for my visit and get a preliminary idea of the problems

involved. Among other things I had some useful sessions, both

and

official/informal, with the Directorate and the Administration of

of the Polytechnic, Mr. Varty, the Estates and Development Officer,

and Mr. Kingwell, Deputy

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