No first-hand information concerning female education of the time has yet been obtained as the small number of women who then attended classes in Sheung Shui left the village upon their marriage, and have not yet been located for interview. According to the account of their male contemporaries, however, 'the small classes in the Christian-run girls' school (Fu Yin T'ang 女校) were mostly from humble families, but those who were later admitted into classes in the study halls were mostly daughters of wealthy families. These girls were usually bright and diligent and showed deep interest in learning. Their average attendance was shorter than the boys', starting normally from the age of nine and none stayed beyond fourteen when they began to prepare for marriage.' "The experience of the two daughters of the founder of the Fu Yin T'ang was, however, exceptional. They never attended class in the village but were sent to a Christian school in Kowloon at the age of 10 and 9. It was a subsidized boarding school for girls (Fairlea) where the Bible, English, arithmetic, biology, hygiene, geography, history, and music as well as the traditional primers were taught. The fee was $5 a month per pupil." "It was a big sum of money, as the fee in the village schools was then from $2 to $5 per year," one of these two ladies, now aged 78, told us in an interview. The elder sister died young but she herself, after completing the upper primary class at Fairlea, received training in nursing at the Nethersole Hospital and then worked as a nurse in Hong Kong until retirement.
While the above case was exceptional for women, it was less so among the men. Changes of the 1910's and 20's brought opportunities as well as new demands. Traditional education, though modified to a certain extent, began to seem steadily more inadequate to cope with the conditions of the time. Those who formerly would have sought a literate career in classical learning turned to the new facilities available. According to our findings from the Oral History Project, between 1913 and 1932, at least twenty young men from the village and almost certainly more were known to have received a Western education at the Tai Po Government School or at the Anglo-Chinese schools in urban Kowloon and Hong Kong. Most of these people had thereafter successful careers as government clerks, interpreters, teachers, headmasters, and businessmen. They were also viewed as elite.
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: No first-hand information concerning female education of the time has yet been obtained as the small number of women who then attended classes in Sheung Shui left the village upon their marriage, and have not yet been located for interview. According to the account of their male contemporaries, however, 'the 'small classes in the Christian run girls' school (Fu Yin T'ang MT) were mostly from humble families, but those who were later admitted into classes in the study halls were mostly daughters of wealthy families. These girls were usually bright and diligent and 'showed deep interest in learning. Their average attendance was shorter than the boys', starting normally from the age of nine and none stayed beyond fourteen when they began to prepare for marriage. "The experience of the two daughters of the founder of the Fu Yin T'ang was, however, exceptional. They never attended class in the village but were sent to a Christian school in Kowloon at the age of 10 and 9. It was a subsidized boarding 'school for girls (Fairlea) where the Bible, English, arithmetic, biology, hygiene, geography, history and music as well as the traditional primers were taught. The fee was $5 a month per pupil. "It was a big sum of money, as the fee in the village schools was then from $2 to $5 per year," one of these two ladies, now aged 78, told us in an interview. The elder sister died young but she herself, after completing the upper primary class at Fairlea, received training in nursing at the Nethersole Hospital 'and then worked as a nurse in Hong Kong until retirement.
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While the above case was exceptional for women, it was less so among the men. Changes of the 1910's and 20's brought opportunities as well as new demands. Traditional education, though modified to a certain extent, began to seem steadily more inadequate to cope with the conditions of the time. Those who formerly would have sought a literate career in classical learning turned to the new facilities available. According to our findings from the Oral History Project, between 1913 and 1932, at least Twenty young men from the village and almost certainly more were known to have received a Western education at the Taipo Government School: or at the Anglo-Chinese schools in urban Kowloon and Hong Kong. Most of these people had thereafter
· successful.:¡careers as government clerks, interpreters, teachers, headmasters and businessmen. They were also viewed as elite
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