30
'V Contacts with the Teaching Staff
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44. A standard feature of visits by TETOC Appointments Officers to
teaching institutions overseas is the seeking of feed-back information
from previously recruited staff. This usually involves a well-attended
meeting with the staff which develops into a "moan session". Many of the "moans" are superficial but however limited the capacity of
TETOC to secure improvements, the visits undoubtedly have a useful
liaison function in bringing to light problems that might otherwise
remain hidden. In visiting the Hong Kong Polytechnic my information
about such problems was derived partly from discussions over a dinner
to which four officials of the Staff Association hospitably invited me at the Tower Restaurant - one of the tourist high-spots of Hong Kong partly from a lively well-attended meeting organised by the Staff
Association : partly from spontanecas comments by Heads of Departments in the course of discussions about their requirements. Complaints
of substance were to a large extent confirmed by the last-named.
The main grievances were as follows :
(1)
45.
Inadequate briefing, as a result of which candidates
received an incomplete and unduly rosy impression of the
conditions under which they would have to work. This arose
partly from the information sheets prepared by the Polytechnic
which TETOC issues to candidates. It was claimed that they were inaccurate and did not give the whole story. It was
also claimed that Polytechnic representatives at interviews
gave misleading answers to questions and that sometimes
appointees were severely disillusioned when, too late, they
discovered the actual position. It was further alleged
with chapter and verse that different answers were given. by various members of the staff to the same questions.
The Polytechnic have as a result agreed to re-draft their
background information sheet. Predictably, they strongly
contested allegations that incorrect or inconsistent answers
were given, although this point was pressed strongly on me
by a number of the staff. It is not for TETOC to form a
judgement, but as mentioned above the liaison function was
probably useful.
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