TNAG-0798-FCO40-1002-Dispute-over-closure-of-Precious-Blood-Golden-Jubilee-Second-1978 — Page 29

A SUMMARY OF THE PRECIOUS BLOCD GOLDEN JUBILEE SECONDARY SCHOOL ISSUE

;

The Precious Blood Golden Jubilee Secondary School in Hong Kong was closed on May 14th 1978 by order of the Acting Director of Education, Mr. Colvyn Haye. Over 1,000 students have lost their school and sixteen teachers will be out of a job. The School will start in September 1978 under a new name. The buildings, the Principle and the Supervisor remain the same. The only difference is that sixteen teachers are gone.

This action is high handed, groundless and unjust.

The Golden Jubilee School started in 1973, It was a Catholic Girls School subsidised by the Hong Kong Government and run by the order of the Precious Blood Sisters. Since the School began, the teachers, most of whom had received training in Teacher Training Colleges or Schools of Education in the two universities in Hong Kong had been working strenuously to equip the students with knowledge and develop in them the ability to do original thinking, to foster concern for other people and society as a whole, a sense of righteousness and justice and most importantly, the ability to maintain order and self-discipline. The relationship between the teachers and students was so harmonious that the Cultivation of knowledge and training of character was effectively done. In fact,

e School has been highly regarded by educational training bodies such as the Schools of Education of both universities in Hong Kong. The School was regarded as Lery progressive in Hong Kong terms and a wide range of extra-curricular activities were encouraged in sports, cultural, religious and social areas.

In 1977, the teachers uncovered large scale misappropriation of 'school funds, forgery and falsifying accounts by the former Principal Sister Leung Kit-Fun who was finally convicted and given a suspended prison sentence nine months later on February 23rd 1978. They reported the malpractices to the Independent Commission Against Corruption on February 1st 1977, the School management committee on April 11th and sent a long and detailed memorandum to the Education Department to assist the investigations on April 22nd 1977.

However, after the resignation of Sister Leung, the new managers of the school including a senior Education Officer, Mr. P. C. Fung, drafted more restrictive contracts for all the teachers. The contracts gave the school management committee the power to dismiss teachers without warning, contrary to the Government's Code of Education.

When the students staged a peaceful sit-in in May 1977 after the school authorities had turned down repeated requests that they clarify the financial matters, the Director of Education, Mr. Topley, issued warning letters to all thirty- five teachers of the school, threatening to cancel their registration as teachers without conducting a thorough investigation and without presenting a shred of evidence. Mr. Topley has refused to produce any evidence and rescind the warning letters despite the repeated demands of the Professional Teachers Union and other organisations.

In the same year, a new Principal MissHilda Kwan was appointed by the Catholic Bishop in August. Kiss Kwan who got the full support of the Church and the Education Department started to mount a persecution campaign against the old teachers and students right at the beginning of the school term. She divided the old teachers and new teachers, the old students and new students. The old students were Regarded as "rebels" and "cancers" while the old teachers "trouble-makers who tried to destroy the school". The Students' Union was not permitted to be revived after it was disbanded after the sit-in and extra-curricular activities were discontinued until growing criticism from outsiders. The time for the students to stay in school before and after lessons was much shortened. Starting from October 1977, the school- bags of some of the students had been secretly searched, many times. A laboratory