ENG-1962 — Page 160

EDUCATION

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his report in May 1962. The Post-Secondary Colleges' Joint Establishment Board's recommendations of February 1962, on im- proved salaries have been implemented. The report of the special committee appointed to define more exactly acceptable minimum qualifications for the non-teaching staff of the three grant colleges and to recommend essential establishments for non-teaching staff, has also been accepted.

A commission was appointed in May to advise on the establish- ment of a new university in which the medium of teaching would be mainly Chinese. The members of the commission were: Mr J. S. Fulton, MA, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sussex (chairman); Professor Li Choh-ming, PhD, Professor of Business Administration and Director of the Centre for Chinese Studies, University of California; Mr J. V. Loach, BSc, PhD, FRIC, Registrar of the University of Leeds; Professor Thong Saw Pak, BSc, PhD, FInstP, Professor of Physics, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur; Professor F. G. Young, MA, DSc, PhD, FRS, FRIC, Professor of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge; and Mr I. C. M. Maxwell, MA, Secretary to the Inter-University Council for Higher Education Overseas (secretary). The commis- sion's interim report, submitted in August, recommended that, if its report was accepted, a federal university based upon the three grant colleges should be formed. The commission's final report is awaited.

In June, the joint diploma examination of the three grant colleges was held; 267 candidates sat and 240 passed. In July, 1,189 sat and 515 passed the joint entry examination of the three grant colleges, in which two private colleges also participated. The British Council presented $96,000 worth of books and periodicals to the three grant colleges including a micro-film copy of the famous Tunhuang manuscripts now in the British Museum.

The University of Hong Kong was begun with financial help from friends and benefactors and has since received substantial recur- rent and non-recurrent grants from Government. In 1961-2 Govern- ment made capital grants totalling $3,254,412, and recurrent grants of $9,368,027 toward a total recurrent expenditure of about $15,365,922. Grants of land have been made from time to time and the central university estate now covers an area of about 40 acres, while other estates cover almost 12 acres.