ME SIR Y K PAO SCHOLARSHIP FUND
Purpose
1.
The primary aim of the Fund should be to give Chinese students who are going to play a role in the modernisation and development of their country the opportunity of studying in Britain.
Constitution and Financial Arrangements
2.
HMG.
is willing in principle to contribute annual grants of £700,000; it would not be practicable to provide a capital sum. The Chinese Government may have similar difficulties about making their contribution by means of a lump sum payment of US$20m into the Fund.
3.
Under the shared funding arrangements of the UK Technical Co-operation Training Programme (TCTP) the Chinese authorities meet the costs of pre-departure English language training, passage to and from the UK, and maintenance; the Overseas Development Administration (ODA) covers all fees, including those for English language testing in China and any additional English language tuituion required in the UK, and the administration costs of running the programme through the British Council. The present distribution of costs between the British and Chinese governments is roughly in the ratio of 60:40 respectively.
4.
It seems to us sensible to build as far as possible on the successful TCTP arrangements. This would allow the new scheme to be implemented relatively easily and with minimum delay, in utilising existing and well-proven machinery. It would also provide an equitable and straightforward method of dividing the cost of the scheme between the parties. The Chinese Government could contribute 40% of the total costs, roughly in line with TCTP. The costs of fees and administration could be met by the British Government and the combined Hong Kong contribution, covering 20% and 40% of the total cost respectively. We hope that this would be regarded by all parties as a sensible basis on which to proceed.
5. If so, we would propose to draft a Memorandum to which the three parties would be signatories and which would form an "umbrella agreement" for the operation of the scholarship fund. This would commit each signatory to provide contributions either in capital or income towards the scheme; and set out the objectives, principles and administrative arrangements on the lines described in this
/paper.
J29AAJ 1
Page 255Page 256
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.