Page 57 of 382
92
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
pluses. There is a grave probability that as many as 15% of our children between the ages of 6 to 14 are either not going to any school at all, or if they are, they belong to one of the estimated 600 to 700 unregistered schools in the Colony.
We are opposed to Government's unrealistic policy of harassing private registered schools which are found to have more pupils in their classrooms than the regulations permit. Does the Government want to force young children to join unregistered schools where conditions are even much worse, and where the chances for children to become juvenile delinquents or heroin addicts are much greater? Why does the Government not take the more fundamental steps of regulating the rents in private school premises in the wider public interest, of giving more subsidies to private schools, of setting up a subsidy code for the grossly under-paid teachers in private schools, and of building more public schools in Hong Kong? Does Government know that some private schools are called "run-for-the-devil" schools because their students are always on the look-out for an Education Officer paying them a surprise visit, thus forcing these unfortunate children to "run-for-the-very-devil" when the Education Officer appears on the scene?
This unhappy social climate that is engulfing the mind and the spirit of thousands of Hong Kong's younger generation is a bitter shame and disgrace to enlightened British colonial policy in Hong Kong. We can only grieve at the bleak probability that in the coming decade many tens of thousands of youngsters will grow up in our midst without the benefit of any education whatsoever.
With the publication of the White Paper on Education we think the time has come for the Education Department to carry out a full-scale review of the Education Ordinance, as many parts of this Ordinance are inapplicable to actual conditions prevalent. For instance, the unrealistic policy of insisting that private schools should provide a minimum of 10 square feet per student and 5 feet of free space away from the blackboard is causing a large number of private schools paying high rents in new buildings to face bankruptcy. Furthermore, the headmasters of these schools face the grim probability of being hauled into court on the initiative of an Inspector of the Fire Services Department, the Urban Services Department or the Education Department for having more than the permitted number of students in a classroom. Many headmasters are in favour of the Education Department relaxing the requirements so as to permit more children to be seated in the classroom of a private registered school. This is preferable to the children being forced to attend "black market" schools which the Government so far seems prepared to ignore and to pretend that "black market" schools do not constitute a serious problem. Another matter of grave concern is the lack of control by Government of rents of private schools. We disagree with the recommendation in the White Paper that nothing should be done because it might be difficult for headmasters to rent premises in future. The short and direct answer to that is that the situation in regard to the existing approximately 2,000 private registered schools is urgent enough to require Government to take immediate action to control the rents of these schools in the same manner as for domestic premises. Then again there is the stupid regulation which requires that private schools should provide one toilet for every 20 students. Why does the Government not apply the same regulation to restaurants, offices, theatres, and the City Hall, especially the Concert Hall with its seating capacity of 1,500? These are only a few of the problems which face the private school system. It seems only fair that if Government insists on private schools maintaining the same standards as Government schools, then Government should expand the subsidy code to include the majority of private schools. And if some of the regulations in the Education Ordinance are impractical, the Government should immediately take steps to revise the Ordinance after due consultation with various interested bodies.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
93
The Unofficial Members in their capacity as Members of this Council have no close contact at all with the Director of Education within the course of Government business. If the Director of Education were made a member of the Urban Council, his close contact with Unofficial Urban Councillors will most assuredly be beneficial to Government, as well as to the public.
On many occasions in the past I have raised questions on educational matters in resettlement estates, only to be told by the Commissioner for Resettlement that Government is interested in education in the Colony as a whole and not just in resettlement estates. I am sure the Commissioner for Resettlement hardly thinks himself competent to speak on matters concerning education and can only act as the indirect mouthpiece of the Director of Education. I can only describe this sort of meaningless reply as typical "officialese" designed to hide a multitude of imperfections. If the Director of Education were a member of the Urban Council he could make a valuable contribution by sitting on the Resettlement Management Committee which is so deeply concerned about the schooling-or more precisely lack of schooling-of children in our resettlement estates. We know it for a fact that in quite a number of resettlement estates there are thousands of children of primary school age who are not going to school even though there are thousands of school places vacant in these same estates. This kind of situation would never be permitted to happen in England. Then why is it permitted in this Colony of Hong Kong? Are we that backward? Or is it because the Colonial Office is not fully aware of the stark dissatisfaction by the local population at Government's well-meant but misguided education policies? At the 7th July, 1964 meeting of the Urban Council, the Commissioner for Resettlement advised me that although
Page 57 of 382
882
Page 57 of 382
92
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
pluses. There is a grave probability that as many as 15% of our children between the ages of 6 to 14 are either not going to any school at all, or if they are, they belong to one of the estimated 600 to 700 unregistered schools in the Colony.
We are opposed to Government's unrealistic policy of harassing private registered schools which are found to have more pupils in their classrooms than the regulations permit. Does the Government want to force young children to join unregistered schools where conditions are even much worse, and where the chances for children to become juvenile delinquents or heroin addicts are much greater? Why does the Govern- ment not take the more fundamental steps of regulating the rents in private school premises in the wider public interest, of giving more sub- sidies to private schools, of setting up a subsidy code for the grossly under-paid teachers in private schools, and of building more public schools in Hong Kong? Does Government know that some private schools are called "run-for-the-devil" schools because their students are always on the look-out for an Education Officer paying them a surprise visit, thus forcing these unfortunate children to "run-for-the-very-devil" when the Education Officer appears on the scene?
This unhappy social climate that is engulfing the mind and the spirit of thousands of Hong Kong's younger generation is a bitter shame and disgrace to enlightened British colonial policy in Hong Kong. We can only grieve at the bleak probability that in the coming decade many tens of thousands of youngsters will grow up in our midst without the benefit of any education whatsoever.
With the publication of the White Paper on Education we think the time has come for the Education Department to carry out a full- scale review of the Education Ordinance, as many parts of this Ordin- ance are inapplicable to actual conditions prevalent. For instance, the unrealistic policy of insisting that private schools should provide a minimum of 10 square feet per student and 5 feet of free space away from the blackboard is causing a large number of private schools paying high rents in new buildings to face bankruptcy. Furthermore, the head- masters of these schools face the grim probability of being hauled into court on the initiative of an Inspector of the Fire Services Department, the Urban Services Department or the Education Department for having more than the permitted number of students in a classroom. Many headmasters are in favour of the Education Department relaxing the requirements so as to permit more children to be seated in the classroom of a private registered school. This is preferable to the children being forced to attend "black market" schools which the Government so far seems prepared to ignore and to pretend that "black market" schools do not constitute a serious problem. Another matter of grave concern is the lack of control by Government of rents of private schools. We dis- agree with the recommendation in the White Paper that nothing should
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
93
be done because it might be difficult for headmasters to rent premises in future. The short and direct answer to that is that the situation in regard to the existing approximately 2,000 private registered schools is urgent enough to require Government to take immediate action to con- trol the rents of these schools in the same manner as for domestic premises. Then again there is the stupid regulation which requires that private schools should provide one toilet for every 20 students. Why does the Government not apply the same regulation to restaurants, offices, theatres, and the City Hall, especially the Concert Hall with its seating capacity of 1,500? These are only a few of the problems which face the private school system. It seems only fair that if Government insists on private schools maintaining the same standards as Govern- ment schools, then Government should expand the subsidy code to in- clude the majority of private schools. And if some of the regulations in the Education Ordinance are impractical, the Government should immediately take steps to revise the Ordinance after due consultation with various interested bodies.
The Unofficial Members in their capacity as Members of this Council have no close contact at all with the Director of Education within the course of Government business. If the Director of Education were made a member of the Urban Council, his close contact with Unofficial Urban Councillors will most assuredly be beneficial to Government, as well as to the public.
On many occasions in the past I have raised questions on educa- tional matters in resettlement estates, only to be told by the Commis- sioner for Resettlement that Government is interested in education in the Colony as a whole and not just in resettlement estates. I am sure the Commissioner for Resettlement hardly thinks himself competent to speak on matters concerning education and can only act as the indirect mouthpiece of the Director of Education. I can only describe this sort of meaningless reply as typical "officialese" designed to hide a multitude of imperfections. If the Director of Education were a member of the Urban Council he could make a valuable contribution by sitting on the Resettlement Management Committee which is so deeply concerned about the schooling-or more precisely lack of schooling-of children in our resettlement estates. We know it for a fact that in quite a number of resettlement estates there are thousands of children of primary school age who are not going to school even though there are thousands of school places vacant in these same estates. This kind of situation would never be permitted to happen in England. Then why is it permitted in this Colony of Hong Kong? Are we that backward? Or is it because the Colonial Office is not fully aware of the stark dis- satisfaction by the local population at Government's well-meant but mis- guided education policies? At the 7th July, 1964 meeting of the Urban Council, the Commissioner for Resettlement advised me that although
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.