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5. For these reasons we regard the proposed constitution of the British Kowloon School as the embodiment of a principle which is on all sides condemn- ed, and we feel confident that it will fail to compete with the all-English and all-Chinese schools, and is foredoomed a failure. And therefore, in spite of everything that has been done hitherto, and in spite of the very natural objections which we conceive the generous donor may have to such a radical change in the scheme with which his name is associated, we make the following recommenda- tions:

(a.) That the idea of a mixed school be abandoned.

(b.) That the School may be regarded as the Kowloon wing of the all-

English School above referred to.

6. In making these recommendations we have after careful consideration rejected the alternative scheme of making the school all-Chinese. There is already a Government Chinese School where English is taught at Kowloon, which is by no means overcrowded; whereas, the demand for a school for English children there is very real indeed.

We have, etc.,

The Honourable,

The COLONIAL SECRETARY,

FC.,

fc.

A. W. BREWIN,

Registrar General.

EDWARD A. IRVING, Inspector of Schools.

No. 314.

COLONIAL SECRETARY'S OFFICE,

HONGKONG, 15th February, 1902.

SIR, I have the honour to draw your attention to a matter of great import- ance connected with the British Kowloon School recently built at your expense, In past years the Government of Hongkong has held that in Schools maintained or assisted by the taxpayers no distinction of race or creed could legitimately be drawn. Lately, however, the Government l:as been induced to regard the question in another light and has arrived at the conclusion that an education given in schools attended indiscriminately by the children of various races and languages is not efficient, and that the best interests of the inhabitants of the Colony will be served by the establishment of separate schools in which the children of each race can obtain the education which is specially suited to their needs.

This being so the Government views with some embarrassment the position created by the terms on which the British Kowloon School has been established. The position may be briefly stated as follows. You, Sir, made the generous offer of a large sum of money for the erection of a public school at Kowloon open to all races and the Government gratefully accepted that offer.

But in the two years that have since elapsed the views of the Government have developed and at the very time when the principle of separate schools has become established it finds itself in the position of having to open a new mixed school.

Under the circumstances, there is but one course to pursue, however ungraci- ous it may appear to be. Happily the Government is emboldened by the confid- ence that you had no motive in your liberal action beyond the welfare of the Colony and it has therefore the less reluctance in requesting you to re-consider the condition which you attached to your gift-that the building should be devoted to a mixed school. The Government is convinced that a mixed school is not likely to prove a success and will certainly fail to benefit the European section of the Kowloon community whose wants were beyond doubt the immediate objects of solic itude when the scheme was evolved. On the other hand the present wants of the Chinese are well provided for by the Government School at Yaunati. The Government has already recognised the desirability of securing proper quarters for this School and a large site in a central position has been reserved and plans have been prepared for a school to accommodate 100 pupils.