14.
�X (1.) It shall be the duty of the Director to inspect Inspection personally or to cause to be iuspected by an inspector or of registeicd
scnools
sub-inspector at least once in every year every registered -school for the purpose of ascertaining if all the regulations made under the provisions of section 12 of this Ordi-nance are being complied with and if such school is being properly and efficiently carried on and if such school is necessary for educational purposes.
(2.) It shall be the duty of the Director to inspect Inspection personally at lea->t once a year every exempted school for o f exempted
schools
the purpose of ascertaining whether the regulations made -under the provisions of section 12 (a), (b) and (e) of this Ordinance are being complied with and whether having regard to the general nature and conduct of the school it is such that it may properly continue to be exempt from unpen isiou.
15.
For the purpose of carrying out. the provisions of Eight of section 14 of this Ordinance it shall be lawful for the f�Xspectm<' Director or any inspector or sub-inspector to visit and officers. " enter upon any school at any time during school hours.
16.
If as a result of any inspection made under the Effect of provisions of section 14 of this Ordinance it shall be made inspection. to appear to the Director to his satisfaction that any of the legnlations made under the provisions of section 12 of this Ordinance is not being or has not been complied with or that such school is not being properly or efficiently carried on ho may by notice in writing to the manager of such school call upon such manager to comply with or cause to be complied with any such regulation which is not being complied with at such school or to carry on such school in a proper and efficient manner before the expira-tion of such period not being less than oue month as may by the Director be determined in snch notice and if at the expiration of such peiiod so determined in such notice such manager has failed to comply with any requisition made in such notice it shall be lawful for the Director to strike such school off the register and such school shall forthwith be deemed to be an unlawful school within the meaning of this Ordinance.
17.
If as a result of any inspection made .under the Farther provisions of section 14 of this Oidinance it shall be made effect of to appear to the Director to his satisfaction that any such "^P^ 10 " -school is not necessary for educational purposes he shall in writing notify snch fact to the manager of such school and at the expiration of a period of three months or of such further period as the Director may allow from the date of such notification he shall strike such school off the register and in the event of such school continuing in existence after such date it shall be deemed to be an unlawful school within the meaning of this Ordinance.
Illus. 4.4 (Continued)
Register of Schools.
Appeal from decision of Director.
Notification of right of appeal to Governor-in-Council.
Apreal to Governor-in-Council.
Power of
Governor-in-Council to close school.
Abolition of Chinese Vernacular Educational Board.
PART V.�X-GENERAL.
18.
The Director shall keep a Register of Schools in which shall be entered the name and the name of the man-ager of every registered aud exempted school and such particulars in connection therewith as may from time to time he required for the purposes of carrying out the provisions of this Ordinance.
19.
If any person against whom any decision of the Director has been made is dissatisfied with such decision he may appeal from such decision to the Governor-in-Council whose decision upon such matter shall be final and conclusive provided that any such appeal shall be notified in writing to the Clerk of Councils within one mouth from the date of the communication of the decisiou of the Director.
20 . Every notice given by the Director under the provisions of sections 16 or 17 shall contaiu a note to the effect that the manager of the school has a right to appeal to the Governor-in-Council from any decision of the Director within one month from the receipt of the notice.
21. The grounds of every appeal shall be concisely stated in writing and delivered to the Clerk of Councils who shall give the appellant seven days notice of the hearing of the appeal, and shall at the same time furnish the appellant with a copy of any evidence or documents submitted by the Director for the consideration of the Governor-in-Council. The appellant may, if he so desire, be present at the hearing of such appeal and be heard in support thereof.
22 . If it shall appear to the Governor-in-Council that any school is being conducted in such a manner as to be prejudicial to the interests of this Colony or of the public or of the pupils of such school it shafl be lawful for the Governor-in-Council to declare such school to be an unlaw-ful school within the meaning of this Ordinance :
Provided that before making such declaration the Governor-in Council shall cause notice to be given to the manager of the intention to make such declaration and of the grounds on which it is intended to be made, and calling upon the manager of such school to show cause why such declaration should not be made, and such manager shall have a right of audience before the Council prior to the making of the declaration.
23 . The Chinese Vernacular Educational Board consti-tuted by Order-in-Council dated the 7th September, 3911, is hereby abolished.
Passed the Legislative Council of Hongkong, this 7th day of August, 1913.
C. CLEMEKTI,
Clerk of Councils.
Assented to by His Excellency the Governor, the 8th day of August, 1913.
CLAUD SEVERN,
Colonial Secretary.
Illus. 4.4 (Continued)
289
(c) A Colonial Office Minute, 14 April 1913, in CO 129/400, p. 92.
What the Governor wants apparently to do is to get absolute con-trol over all schools except Government and Military schools through a system of compulsory registration. The reason . . . seems to be chiefly political, i.e., the Governor wants to prevent the dissemination of anti-foreign views in native schools ...
These are very large powers and I have considerable doubt80 whether it is really necessary to adopt such measures for dealing with possible anti-foreign propaganda in the schools...
21. Development of the Tung Wah Hospitab (1870-1960), complied by the Board of Directors, 1960-1961 (Hong Kong: Tung Wah Hospitals, 1961) (translated from the Chinese).
The Tung Wah Group of Hospitab is a classic example of a Chinese voluntary association, which from Confucian principles, took seriously and actively promoted the welfare of the poorer members of the Chinese community. The original motivation for its establishment included an awareness of the need for a hospice and, more generally, for treatment by Chinese medicinal methods. As it developed and adopted new, non-medical responsibilities, the Tung Wah Group became a paternalistic and civic-minded body whose committee usually had overlapping membership with the Po Leung Kuk and the District Watch Committee and might even have had some claims to be regarded as 'the Chinese Executive Council of Hong Kong'.81
The Development of the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals' primary schools and
planning the construction ofsecondary schools.
Compared with others, the Tung Wah Group of Hospital's system of Free Schools has a long history in Hong Kong. For eighty years, from 1880 up to the present, the organization has been contributing to the advance-ment of education. The following paragraphs describe the development of TWGH's Free Schools and their present conditions.
80.
Despite these misgivings held by some senior officials, the Secretary of State for the Colonies did not withhold his approval from the Ordinance.
81.
See H.J. Lethbridge, Hong Kong: Stability and Change (Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1978), pp. 58, 65, 91 and 104-29. See also Elizabeth Sinn, The Tung Wah Hospital 1869-1896: A Study of a Medical, Social and Political Institution' (unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Hong Kong, 1987), especially Chapter 4.
Initial stages in the process of running Free Schools
Eighty years ago, the Chairman of the TWGH, Mr. Leung Wan Hon and the Directors, Lee Man Tak, Chi Sing Lam, and others, were con-cerned about the plight of poor children in Hong Kong. They believed that, in view of the fact that poor children who missed schooling would remain illiterate as adults, not only would they have difficulties earning a living, but, even worse, they would be open to exploitation by evil people and thus be tempted to perform illegal actions. In this way, the whole of society would be adversely affected. In this situation, from the social service point of view, it seemed clear that attention and assistance needed to be given to the education of the young. Free education should, there-fore, be provided as a form of Charity. Local merchants and gentry fervently supported this idea of running Free Schools. They handed over the premises of the central district school (next to the Man Mo Temple) to the Tung Wah organization to set up the Man Mo Temple Free School. Teachers were employed to teach at the elementary level and, thereafter, the system of Tung Wah Free Schools began its glorious history.
As a part of our establishment of Free Schools, not only were poor children exempted from paying fees, but, as an inducement towards education, they were also given free stationery and textbooks. The annual expenditure, including the payment of teachers (240 taels annually), sub-sidies and miscellaneous charges (about 10 taels), did not exceed 500 taels and was borne by the Man Mo Temple Committee.
The Free School's curriculum was based mainly on the Three Character Classic and the One Thousand Characters Classic. At a higher level, the Four Books were taught. The objectives were to teach pupils how to read and write, to calculate, and to behave properly. We had no idea that such great social interest would be aroused by our scheme and that the school would progress so rapidly, with such important attainments as have been achieved by the present day.
At that time [c.1880], people from all walks of life were aware of the importance of knowledge and education. Not only were well-to-do fami-lies keen to urge their children to study hard, the illiterates also wanted their children to receive education. Although there were many English and Chinese schools already in existence, the school fees were so high that not many people could afford to make use of them. Once they knew that there were Free Schools, they were eager to gain a place for their children.
In those days, most rich people were ill-disciplined because teachers were afraid that strict control of pupils might infuriate the headmaster who needed to keep the parents happy. On the other hand, teachers operating in the free schools financed by the Man Mo Temple had no such worries. Indeed, they were strict teachers, serious about their pupils' academic achievements and about their conduct. This policy certainly won the applause of many parents.
In a couple of years, the number of pupils had increased so rapidly that even with additional teachers, it was impossible to meet the demand for admission. Consequently, the Directors felt obliged to draw up a set of conditions to cover successful applications. First, applicants should pos-sess an affirmation by their neighbours that they really were poor. Sec-ondly, they should be over 13 and under 15 years of age. Thirdly, disre-garding the mental abilities of pupils, they should not stay at school for more than five years.
In 1893, because the Man Mo Temple Free School was so crowded, the Directors of the TWGH decided to set up three more Free Schools in Queen's Road West.
In 1897, two Free Schools were established in Sai Ying Pun and Yau Ma Tei, with the necessary additional teachers employed by the TWGH. In 1904, two more classes were opened and as many as eight new teachers employed. Mr. Chan Yik Wan, Director of the Tung Wah Hospital Board, was appointed part-time inspector of our schools. In those days, each teacher was responsible for teaching 30 pupils. The principles of educa-tion were confined to ritual, honour, and ceremony. This was characteris-tic of the initial stage of running Free Schools.
Because the number of children failing to obtain schooling was still great, the Directors decided to open more Free Schools. Fourteen Free Schools, financed by the Man Mo Temple, were subsequently set up in Bridges Street, Centre Street, Queen's Road East, Ladder Street, Queen's Road West, Tai Yuen Street, Yeang Shuen Street, Yau Ma Tei, etc. At the same time, there were two Free Schools financed by the Kwong Fuk Temple situated in Ladder Street and Bridges Street; two Free Schools financed by the Tin Hau Temple were set up in Yau Ma Tei and one Free School financed by the Hung Sing Temple was established in Wanchai. Schools were named after the temples from which they got their financial support. In other cases, the family name of the head teacher was used �X for example, Tsui School, Wong School, etc.
Innovation in tlie course of development
Amongst all the Free Schools, the Yau Ma Tei School received the largest number of applicants for admission. It was the only Free School in Kowloon, but it was too small to be able to admit all candidates for admission. A type of lottery was introduced to ensure fair treatment of applications. At the suggestion of Directors, Leung Pui Chi, Chow Siu Kee, and others, tallies were issued to applicants before the commence-ment of the school term. Those who received the lucky tally would have priority over the others for admission. The unlucky ones had to wait for a further year.
It has been a practice for more than fifty years that at the end of each
school year, all teachers would foregather to be appraised by the Direc-tors. Teachers of high calibre would be re-employed. Others had to resign. Throughout the year (as calculated by the lunar calendar), holidays were confined to festivals.
In 1905, Director, Chow Siu Kee, recognizing that many schools [in China and Hong Kong] were adopting a new, more text-book centred approach in teaching, suggested that all TGWH Free Schools should update their teaching by following this newer approach. The Man Mo Temple then distributed some $150 for purchasing textbooks in Chinese on the Chinese Language, Ethics, etc. Pupils could go to the Man Mo Temple Free School to buy suitable textbooks. This was the first innova-tion in the development of modern teaching methods in our schools. However, the new books were not well received by the teachers and parents. Only a few were sold. The remainder were distributed to the pupils as prizes and used for supplementary reading.
In January 1907, when the school term began, all the Tung Wah Free Schools were over-subscribed. The Free Schools on Hong Kong island had to adopt the 'tally-system' introduced by the Yau Ma Tei Free School. It was discovered, however, that this system could easily lead to corruption. The fact that some parents sold the 'lucky tally7 to parents of rejected candidates inevitably affected the good name of the school. To prevent falsification, the Directors, including Tang Chi Ngor, Ho Dai Sang, etc., ruled that all applicants who drew the lucky tally7 had to have a photo-graph taken of themselves in the studio run by Director Yu Bo Sum and that teachers were to check these photographs when the pupils came to register. Although the procedure was rather complex, it eradicated imper-sonation and photographic identification thereafter became part of the regulations.
In 1908, the Chairman, Mr. Tarn Hok Bor, and Directors, Chan Lok Chuen, Ng Hon Sai, and others, came to the conclusion that the appoint-ment of teachers based solely on personal recommendations gave rise to a number of defects. In the first place, the recommendation might not necessarily reflect an accurate picture of the applicant. And if teachers turned out to be incompetent, it was only at the end of the year, when the appraisal was carried out, that their employment could be terminated. Worst of all, because of this limiting time factor, a replacement exercise had to be completed within half a month. In these circumstances, not only was the opening of the school likely to be delayed, but the progress of the pupils was also adversely affected. It was, therefore, suggested that all teaching posts under the TWGH should be advertised and that teachers should be employed only after passing an examination. With the consent of the whole Board of Directors, Lee Chi Kwai was elected the Examiner of the year, responsible for marking all the scripts. Thereafter, this prac-tice became a part of the established procedures.
To encourage teachers, the mock-examination scripts of a few of the best pupils were sent to the Tung Wah Directors. After they had evalu-
ated these scripts, they offered the teachers, as a token of distinguished work, $3 for each script with the highest score. Thus, the TWGH examina-tion system was established.
22. Enrolments in Government and Grant Schools, 1877-97 (Illus. 4.5).
Once again, reservations must be expressed about the reliability of the statistics upon which the following graph is based. They are taken either from Hong Kong Government Gazettes or the Blue Books for the appropriate year, but should be regarded as estimates of enrolment figures rather than the product of a genuine count. Readers of the original documents should be aware that, because of the 'dual system', enrolment figures for the Central School/Victoria College/Queen's College were sometimes not included in the totals for 'Government Schools'. The stacked column graph below illustrates the disparity be-tween the enrolment figures for the two genders, especially in Government schoob. The traditional Chinese preferential treatment for males might abo explain why, in the reduc-tion of the school enrolments caused by the outbreak of the plague in 1894 and several succeeding years, the drop is less marked for girb in both Government and Grant Schools. The years 1877-97 span the offices (part or whole) of three Inspectors of School (Stewart, Eitel and Brewin) and show how what b now called 'the public sector' of education developed from the time of the original Grant Code, by way of the revision (1879) which Roman Catholics considered to have enabled them to accept Grants-in-Aid, and through the time when Eitel operated hb policy of closing down Government District Schoob and relying more upon Grant Schoob, until the year of Eitel's retirement.
Enrolments in Govt & Grant Schools, 1877-1897
E3 Girls in Grant Schools E3 Boys in Grant Schools
�E
Girls in Government Schools
�E
Boys in Govt Schools
77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97
Year Illus. 4.5
23. Photographic evidence.
The City Hall production of 'H.M.S. Pinafore' was on 13 February 1879 (Illus. 4.6). The World Premier of Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta was held at the Opera Comique in London on 25 May 1878. This suggests that the hoary old criticbm of Hong Kong as a cultural desert may need amendment, at least for some of the time.
Examples of school architecture of the time include a grant school, St. Paul's College (Illus. 4.7) and the two leading Government Schoob, Queen's College (for boys) (Illus. 4.8) and Belilios Public School (mainly for girb and built on the site of the old Central School, Gough Street, which was itself built on the site of the Rev. John Lewis Shuck's school of the mid-1840s) (Illus. 4.9).
Photographs of the Examination Hall (Illus. 4.10), the pupils (Illus. 4.11) and the staff (Illus. 4.12) of the Queen's College are also included.
As other evidence indicates, the Committee of the Tung Wah Group of Hospitab was very active in a charitable and paternalistic way. The photograph of the 1910 Committee illustrates the grandeur with which they were viewed (and perhaps viewed themselves) and emphasizes their perception as a traditional Chinese group of notables (Illus. 4.13).
Illus. 4.6 A Mirage in the 'Cultural Desert'? The City Hall production of 'H.M.S. Pinafore' on 13 February 1879.
295
The final set of photographic evidence (Illus. 4.14) shows sample pages from an initia-tive made by a typical Hong Kong middleman to attempt to penetrate the language barrier.82
Illus. 4.7 St. Paul's College.
llSfeZL
nUiiiuR
i M
i.i ii i Itw
Illus. 4.8 Queen's College.
82. For further details of Mok Man Cheung and his book, see Anthony Sweeting, 'A Middle-man for all Seasons: Snapshots of the Significance of Mok Man Cheung and his "English
Made Easy7", Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 27,1987.
Illus. 4.9 Belilios Public School.
Illus. 4.10 Examination in progress in the school hall, Queen's College, 1903. Illus. 4.11 Class 6D at Queen's College on 2 March 1905J
83. Mr and Mrs Stokes discovered the set of photographs from which this one has been taken while in the library of Rhodes House, Oxford University. They contributed invalu-able work in identifying many of the subjects in the photographs. The photographs were taken by 'the celebrated' J.A. Barr, an American known for his skill in taking school groups. In this sample of his work, one might notice the size of the class (well over 50) as well as the wide age-range, the varied attire (ranging from traditional Chinese gowns, soft shoes, and padded jackets on some pupils to knickerbockers, cap, and stout, European style shoes on at least one other), and the ethnic mixture of the pupils. Because of the opening of the Kowloon British School a few years earlier, there were fewer European boys entering Queen's College, but, as this photograph attests, Chinese pupils (the majority) were joined by pupils from other backgrounds, especially Eurasians and Indians. The capped and gowned figure at the left is Edwin Ralphs, Acting Normal Master (i.e., in charge of the pupil-teacher scheme). He appears to be keeping a close watch on a somewhat apprenhen-sive Normal Student at the front right.
Illus. 4.12. The staff of Queen's College.84
84. This photograph was taken outside the main entrance to the school on Staunton Street on 4 March 1905. Mr and Mrs Stokes identify the staff 'with reasonable certainty7 in a 1988 mimeo. The expatriate masters sit at the base of the pyramid. In the front row, from the left, are A.H. Crook (later fifth Headmaster), A.W. Grant, B.A. (Cantab.), T.K. Dealy (later third Headmaster), Dr George Bateson Wright (Headmaster), Edwin Ralphs (later Acting Direc-tor of Education), Bertram Tanner (later fourth Headmaster). In the second row are H.L.O. Garrett, R.J. Birbeck, and two temporary members of staff. Three members of staff (AJ. May, R.E.O. Bird and G.P. de Martin) were not present when the photograph was taken. Behind the expatriates are the Anglo-Chinese Masters (or 'Chinese Assistants') who were supposed to teach in English. In the front are six senior men (Ng In, Tse Tsing-fong, Kong Ki-fai, Leung Wong-kuen, Lau Tsoi and Li Ying-shiu). Behind are four younger Anglo-Chinese Masters (Chiu Yung-chi, Ying Wing-chick, Fung Sz-chan and one other. Standing a little back from the row is probably Lai U-lim, temporarily promoted from Pupil Teacher to Normal Student. Then came five Vernacular Masters who taught in Chinese. Chan Tat-ming, well-known for his stoutness and his booming voice, is slightly left of centre. On his right are Ho Mo-ng (Senior Vernacular Master) by the balustrade and Lo Po-tang. On Mr Chan's left are Ho Fung-cheung and then Chan Man-tsung. Behind this row are the Normal Students (Pupil Teachers).
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PREFACE.
This compilation appears in response to a request urge upon the author by some of his business friends. It is designed for beginners of the English language, and is also intended to be a handy manual for business men who have acquired a few ordinary English words and desire to learn more without a teacher by the aid of the charecter of their own language. The pronunciation of each English word is given by a Chinese spelling, or, more correctly speaking, Chinese characters to repre-sent the English sounds as nearly as it appears possible for them to do so. Where no Chinese word can be found in the written language to reproduce the English pronunciation; a short note in Chinese colloquial or in simple terms is given, illustrating the sound required so as to enable the student to inter the particular sound. To test the usefulness of this book, let any one English word be picked out in the book and pointed out to a Chinese; then let him read the Chinese char-acters given for the sound: and, by merely reading the Chinese Characters, he will produce that sound as requared by the English spelling. The compiler has had this experiment tried time and again, and the resule has proved generally satisfactory,
The system of toning each Chinese Character to mark its pronunciation and the hints subjoined, the author trusts, is unique in design. He believes this system of his to be of practical help to beginners, and also hopes that this brochure will meet the urgent demand of that class of Chinese who would rely entirely on their own efforts to learn English without the aid of a teacher.
Illus. 4.14 Pages from a 1904 publication, entitled English Made Easy, compiled by Mok Man Cheung, published by 'Kwong Hop Yuen, 46, Bonham Strand, Hong Kong, China'.
II
Beginners who wish to learn to talk English in a com-paratively short time and at the least possible expense, may find that this book will answer their purpose. All Chinese characters given for pronunciation of English words are to be read from left to right.
This book also contains forms of bills, social and business letters, forms of applications for licences, permits, etc., in English, with the Chinese text which
the Chinese in Hongkong may find handy in their
everyday business and social relations with thier
European friends.
M. M. C.
Illus. 4.14 (Continued)
t.^*B.llt��M.. s
As
1 k E &
g X
It
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m
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m
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Pi
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Illus. 4.14 (Continued)
&.m ^ % m+�D m^ *n w . ^ m /L 5
& 2 ftofft at ^ .oSi fg**: ^oi? 2f
NUMERALS AND FIGURES.
m
1 One 3 Three 4 Four
2 Two
ftfc.itr
�X n ^ tt) mmxmM
# S �G JftJ
S ^ �X
"af"
5 Five 6 Six 7 Seven 8 Eight
0R
9 Nine 10 Ten 11 Eleven 12 Twelve
2 . A * m
.WAt!E*r^ ^&4D IS
13 A. #8 w H A IS
.H.lft*
Illus. 4.14 (Continued)
& zm 1% Mitidsu* WoR #
Greece
Honolulu Java
Loochoo
Island
Turkey
"Victoria
Italy
Pll
England
l��
Eussia Suez Portugal
ma
canal
Holland
*ta.i9i Jfifim
France
California Sydney Egypt
pisi Germany
Sacramento Keelung
India Panama
"toll
BftfloJii
E3>
San Francisco
Corea .=ii New Zealand
Tllloftfl!
Tibet T^>
Illus. 4.14 (Continued)
330 ^m^^
He is fond of drinks
He is so cheeky
3t%3c.F.HMl�G3f
He can't be trusted
JitMBT
This cup is chipped
I ciiu't trust him
He is in the country
m** ts^ tarn m^ mn,
He works hard
Be's got no bad habits
He made plenty of money
He lends money
How much have you done!
(XB)
How far have you got'
I have nearly finished
I have left him
4E.$fctt,A
He is my enemy
I don't know anything about it
fOBffill
I'll take your advice
Illus, 4.14 (Continued)
440
48, Caiae Road,
Hongkong, 19th January, 1916.
The Water Authority,
Sir,
We beg most respectfully to bring to your notice
that the water service on the above premises has for
some days failed and we have been unable to get
water. In consequence we have been put to the
inconvenience of obtaining our supply for cooking
and washing purposes from our neighbbours' houses,
which has been a source of annoyance both to our-
selves and to them. I shall feel sincerely grateful if
you will kindly cause the water pipe on the premises
to be examined and, if found defective, have it
repaired at your earliest convenience.
Thanking you iu advance for your valuable services,
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Yours most obedient servants,
Wong To
Li Yee Hing
+*, m smffiAW*.#�G*wfcx+*js a -* mi H ^wimnmBnmtmK
+ mm %,m%7fm&mm&n&&^ K
Illus. 4.14 (Continued)
441
16, Ping On Street,
Hengkong, 10th August, 1916.
To The Superioress,
French Convent, gcSfcl* Italain Convent,
Dear Madam,
I take the liberty of addressing you with regard to
my daughter, who is 3 years of age and is suflering from
a serious complaint, but the doctors who have been
trenting her have given her but temporary relief. Her
disease seems to be getting from bad to worse and,
being aware that the Sisters in your Convent are
scrupulously careful, tender, and attentive to their
duties in tending and nursing sick children, I con-
ceive it to be wise for me to send her to your convent
for treatment as an in patient. I am sending her to
you with her mother who will deliver this note to you.
I respectifully beg that you will give her admission
and every medical aid. When she is recovered which
I am confident she will under your motherly care, I
will take her back and make a donation to your Con-
vent according to my humble means, to mark my
recognition of your kind and valuably services.
Thanking you in anticipation:
I remain,
Yours respectfully,
Hu Yuen.
*% mmmmmAff***s*�G.*&*I
ft-fr- *�G*JB..r&AS;^ftte.ISScW
Illus. 4.14 (Continued)
24, Wan Chai Street, 1st Floor, Hongkong, 10th October, 1919. The Office in Charge, No. 2, Police Station, GA&S The Public Dispensary, Central District.) Dear Sir, I beg to bring to your notice that there is a dead body lying on the road OKiJfcSg pathway) in front of my house (^$L% of house No. 24, Mercer Street.) It is apparently that of a male person O^gftjfl of a child) who the Kaifong people think has died of some sickness. The Kaifong will be extremely obliged by your send-ing an ambulance to remove it to the proper quarter. Apologizing for the trouble given: Yours faithfully. Chan Che Wing Appended hereto are the chops of the Kaifong, Cheng Lee Ho, Lee On Ho, Yu Yuen, etc.
TO* HAP ft �G* J* �G *fl*sz<.-T03 HtAffi3#g.mg^f ^
Wb
MM
�G0*
Illus. 4.14 (Continued)
309
24. The Trospectus of the French Convent School, 1910', in Asile de la Sainte Enfance... Monography, 1910, pp. 42-51 (Illus. 4.15).
A second extract from the 'Monography', this time from what might be regarded as a primary source �X the School Prospectus for the year in which the Monography was published �X provides a wealth of data about the social aspects ofschooling, as well as about the Sisters' declared objectives.
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tn
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in
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PROSPECTUS
The prospectus is forwarded to every family who
desires it.
By the fact of the entrance of a pupil into the boarding-school, all the conditions of the prospectus are accepted by the parents.
Purpose.
The aim which the management have in view is to impart to the pupils committed to their care, not only a sound general instruction but such an education as will form and fit the girls for after-life.
Cha ra c teris tic.
To reach this end, the mistresses strive to replace the children's parents and offer them a home where family life and affection are preserved.
The vigilance exercised over their pupils is of a constant nature. Never a*;e the children left by themselves, their teachers are present at their meals, sleep in the dormitories and are out with them in their walks and recreations, continually watching over their deportment, language and manners.
Illus. 4.15 (Continued)
�X 44 -
The pupils' health forms the object of special at-tention, their slightest indisposition calling forth the solicitude of the sisters. In case of illness, the pa-rents are informed forthuith. A physician is atta-ched to the establishment, but his attendance and prescriptions are charged for, as extras.
Tuition.
The school is under the control of the government, and its curriculum comprises the literary and scien-tific branches, that appear on the English Sylla-bus.
All the lessons are graduated and tend to prepare the pupils for the Oxford local Examination ; while the method followed in the teaching, assumes a practical character and always aims at providing the girls with all necessary and useful general know-ledge after a few years spent at the school.
Private lessons in French are given if desired. Ladies may also receive such lessons, on applica-tion to the mother superior. ARTS. �X Lessons in piano playing and drawing are optional, and count as extras.
All the girls are carefully taught both ordinary and fancy needlework, and are trained in all those things, that an accomplished woman ought to know and be able to perform.
Illus. 4.15 (Continued)
�X 45 �X
Means of Emulation.
The means of emulation employed are : composi-tions, good marks, quarterly reports, examinations, and dis tribution of prizes.
Fac-simile of the report sent peiiodically to the parents :
FRENCH CONVENT SCHOOL
HONG-KONG
REPORT OF
Miss
FOR
GENERAL REPORT
Conduct Order Politeness Applical'on Lessons known Lessons missed
Parent's Signature
Illus. 4.15 (Continued)
STUDIES MAX. OBT. REMARKS
Reading. S Spelling. . . . I Grammar. . ; Composition. . I Arithmetic.
Geography. Physical Geography History
I Domestic Economy. Elementary Science Penmanship. .
I French.. .. . Hygiene. Drawing. . . Bible History. . Catechism.. Music. .
| Needlework. .
TOTAL.
Position in Examination
Illus. 4.15 (Continued)
47-
TIME-TABLE
5 o'clock. Rising Toilet followed hy mor-
ning prayer.
7 �X �E . Rising for the younger pupils.
6 �X . . Assistance at mass.
7 �X Breakfast.
8 �X . Baths.
8-3otill 12 . English Class.
12 o'clock Dinner.
I2-3o �X I-I5 . . Recreation.
I-I 5 �X 3. . . . English Class.
4 3o �X 5.. . Tea and recreation.
5 �X 6-3o. Study and sewing.
6-3o �X Evening prayer.
7 �X 8.. Supper recreation.
8 �X Retirement.
Every day a French lesson is given to the boar-ders who desire it'from 3 o'clock till 4-3o. This same class may be followed by the day-boarders and day-scholars. Every day from I-I 5 to 2 p.m. religious ins-truction is given to catholic pupils.
Visits.
The boarders may receive visits : On Sundays from 11 till 12 o'clock.
Illus. 4.15 (Continued)
- 48 -
On Thursdays from 10 till 12 o'clock.
The pupils .must obtain the permission to go to the parlour. On account of the studies, they should not he disturbed during class hours.
Holidays.
The pupils have a holiday every Sunday and ho-liday of obligation, e^cry Thursday and a half ho-liday on Saturday.
On Sundays and Thusdays when the weather permits, the boarders take a walk accompanied by their mistresses.
The boarders may go out on the first Sunday of every month.
At Christmas : 1 week.
At Easter: 1 week.
The long vacation takes place in the months of July and August.
General Discipline.
The day-scholars and day-boarders should be at school at 8-3o in the morning, and should leave from 3 till 4-3o.
The boarders are absolutely forbidden to give any outside commission. Any infraction of this rule, either by boarders or day-scholars, would expose
Illus. 4.15 (Continued)
-4 9-them to severe reprimands and perhaps, to expul-sion. The pupils are forbidden to borrow money or to make any exchange whatever. The letters sent or received must be first sub-mitted to the Directress. No newspapers or journals may be introduced into the school without a special authorization of the mistress. The pupils should have no books ex-cept their prize-books or those chosen by the Sis-ters. When a pupil is retained in her family for a suf-ficient reason, the superioress should he informed. A boarder, should not, on any account pass the night outside the boarding-school, without special per-mission from the Superioress.
ADMISSION
Boarders, day-boarders, and day-scholars are re-ceived.
Children are admitted from the age of 4; boys are not received as boarders, but only as day-scholars until the age of 7.
The day-scholars may bring their midday meals, those of the day-boarders are supplied by the esta-blishment.
The day-boarders should have a table-service, a goblet, and a serviette for each week, all marked with their initials.
Illus. 4.15 (Continued)
5o �X
Pecuniary-Conditions.
Entrance fee S. 25 School fee 20 Washing 3 Day-boarders $. 8 Day-scholars 3 For the day-boarders and day-
scholars who follow the
French course 2
Piano 8
Drawing 6
The classical supply is paid apart.
Private lessons.
For ladies and children who desire to take priv-ate lessons in the French language, the terms are as follows :
$. 5 a month, one lesson of an hour each week For ( 10 �X 2 one | 12 �X 3
person ( 16 4 For f$.10 1
z
two \ 14 �X 2 persons \ 18 3 together f 22
4 For 1$. 12 �X 1 three \ 16 �X 2 persons ) 20 3 together' 24 �X 4 Private lessons in sewing or lace-work are given at $ o,5o c per hour.
Illus. 4.15 (Continued)
Trousseau or Outfit.
Boarders must be provided with the following
outfit: 2 uniform dresses, blue serge for Winter { Supplied 2 white dresses for Summer ^ by the 2 uniform-hats f House.
2 pairs of gloves (one white and one blue). 3 aprons for class. 2 ordinary dresses (for every day).
12 chemises. 4 night-dresses. 6 pairs of drawers. 4 white petticoats.
12 pairs of stockings (six cotton and six wool). i pair of boots and i pair of shoes. 2 dozen handkerchiefs. 2 corsets. i umbrella.
Combs and toilet-objects.
Boarders who do not pay $. 25 entrance fee have to supply besides the trousseau : i mattress ) . . . . . .. , . . ,
, , . [ having size ot the boarding-school bed. 2 pairs of sheets. 2 bath towels. 2 woollen-blankets. 6 table serviettes.
2 cotton-blankets. i knife. 6 pillow-cases. i fork. i white cou n terp ane. i table-spoon.
i toilet service. i tea-spoon. 6 toilet-napkins. i goblet. All these things must be in good condition, and marked with the number assigned by the House.
CHARTRES. IMPRIMERIE DURAND, RUE IULBERT.
Illus. 4.15 (Continued)
319
25. An article entitled 'Education7 by G.H. Bateson Wright, D.D.(Oxon.), Head-master of Queen's College, Hong Kong, in Twentieth Century Impressions of Hong Kong, Shanghai and Other Treaty Ports of China.
The final evidence is taken from the handsomely produced and very substantial volume, published in 1908 by Lloyd's Greater Britain Publishing Company and edited by Arnold Wright, entitled Twentieth Century Impressions of Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Other Treaty Ports of China. The photographs in the article still retain atmosphere and interest (Illus. 16-21). Readers might wish to compare Bateson Wright's florid style with the earlier quotations from the Asile de la Sainte Enfance .. . Monography (see Evidence 2, Chapter 1 and Evidence 24 in this chapter) and consider it as a bluff, masculine counterpart. They might also wish to note the elements of self-congratulation.
"HONG KONG is sui generis." Thirty years ago this was the war cry of the eloquent Hon. Mr. Phineas Ryrie, locally known as the Rupert of Debate. He never wearied of endeavouring to impress upon the Govern-ment that it was futile to attempt to apply the experiences of England and India to the conditions of Hongkong. Few people will be found ready to deny that a sound substratum of fact underlies the idea; but it is equally certain that for many decades Hongkong suffered from undue regard to the conviction that English methods could not solve Chinese problems.
Prima facie, it would appear probable that Education would naturally be one of those subjects in which great, if not insuperable, difficulties would be encountered in dealing with a large, mixed, cosmopolitan com-munity, the bulk of which belongs to the most conservative of nations on the face of the earth �Xthe Chinese. Despite the hindrances engendered by this conception, a cursory review of the history of Education in this Col-ony will show that, after all, a greater similarity obtains between the con-ditions existing in the mother country and this little Colony than might at the coup d'oeil be supposed possible.
In England, from 1850 to 1870, the only elementary schools were the National Schools, under the aegis of the Established Episcopal Church, the British Schools supported by the Nonconformist denominations, and the Roman Catholic Schools, all of these receiving bonuses from the Govern-ment, with special consideration to Established Church. We need not be surprised, then, to find that for the first twenty or thirty years the Hongkong Government contented itself with aiding missionary efforts by grants and by the establishment of Grant-in-aid Schools under the control of an Educational Committee, of which Bishop Smith, and subsequently Dr. Legge, was chairman. W7hen Board Schools were instituted in England the Forster Code was introduced into Hongkong, with the modifications re-quired by local conditions. At intervals new editions of the local Code were published, generally increasing both the value of the grant and the severity of the standard. Last of all, Hongkong, following the lead at
home, abolished the necessity of an annual examination of all the scholars in the Grant-in-aid Schools, leaving the assessment of the proficiency of each school, and the extent to which it shall be subject to examination, to the discretion of the Inspector of Schools.
So far, it will be observed, nothing has been recorded indicative of any necessity for peculiar treatment of educational matters in Hongkong. Naturally, however, linguistic and racial problems unknown in Great Britain arise in this Colony. Of a total population of 361,000, no fewer than 340,000, or 94 per cent, are Chinese. The importance to these of the study of their own language would appear to be self-evident, and was immedi-ately recognised by the local Government without discussion. Under Sir J. Pope-Hennessy's regime (1877-82) it was first suggested that the entire time of Chinese students ought to be devoted to the acquisition of the English language. The supporters of the then existing state of affairs appealed successfully to the famous dictum of Macaulay relative to the maintenance of vernacular instruction in India. The matter dropped for the time to be revised under more propitious circumstances during the governorship of Sir William Robinson (1891-97), when notice was given that the study of Chinese was removed from the curriculum of all Govern-ment Schools, and that in future no new Grant-in-aid School teaching Chinese would be accepted. Later the Government reverted to the former practice, and more recently advanced to the position that no grant would be given to a school attended by Chinese unless adequate provision were made for instruction in the vernacular.
Next to the consideration of whether the Chinese language should be taught, came the question of the method to be employed in teaching it. At first sight it would appear somewhat presumptuous for foreigners to undertake to devise an improvement upon the native system which had been in vogue for several centuries. But common-sense and utilitarianism prevailed. It is the custom in China for the first two or three years of a child's school-life to be spent in the acquirement by heart of several volumes of native literature, without any explanation whatever of the subject-matter, which is perfectly unintelligible to the scholar. Even when instruction comes later, its educational value, apart from moral lessons such as filial piety, &c, is confined to the composition of stilted essays in stereotyped style upon topics of a very limited scope. To meet the require-ments of a scheme for teaching the Chinese their own language on a rational system several series of books have been complied and published by missionaries at Shanghai. Following the plan of English Readers, they begin with the use of the simplest characters possible, and treat of subjects within the every-day ken of the infant. Lessons are given on animals, plants, history, and geography, while not the least interesting and instruc-tive is a work dealing with the composite parts of various characters and their meaning, hitherto a sealed subject to the average Chinaman. All this, an entirely new departure for Chinese students, is of high educational value; and at the end of three years, instead of being on the threshold of learning, as by the native system, the pupils have acquired a variety of useful information and are able to write short letters and essays, formerly an impossible feat at this stage. These useful books have been introduced into Hongkong Government Schools within the last half-dozen years, and, though some are too childish in sentiment for boys twelve years of age, are highly appreciated.
Beside British and Chinese, there are in Hongkong boys of all nation-alities �X American, Hindu, Japanese, Parsee, Portuguese, &c. For many years there was a great agitation amongst the British ratepayers to found a separate school for the exclusive use of boys and girls of British parentage. Their prayer has now been granted. The first opportunity was afforded by a new school-building erected by the munificence of Mr. Ho Tung, with the proviso that no boy should be excluded on the ground of race or creed. As this school was conveniently situated for the children of residents in the Kowloon Peninsula opposite Victoria, Mr. Ho Tung was induced to consent to his school being converted into a school for British children only, on the understanding that the Government would erect in Yaumati, a mile distant on the same side of the water, a school for Chinese under the charge of an English headmaster. Mr. D. James, formerly assistant master at*Queen's College, Hongkong, and second master of the King's School for Siamese Princes at Bangkok, was appointed headmaster, and Kowloon British School was formally opened in 1902. Soon afterwards, owing largely to the instrumentality of Mr. Irving, a similar British School was opened in the island to the east of Victoria and called the Victoria British School, under the care of Mr. W.H. Williams, headmaster. Both these are mixed schools, but a somewhat grotesque arrangement has been made by the terms of which, boys over sixteen may not attend Kowloon School, but must cross over to Victoria, and girls over sixteen must leave Victoria School and cross to Kowloon, which seems to suggest that the Inspector of Schools has not the full courage of his convictions.
In this connection, while admitting that for other reasons the estab-lishment in a British colony of schools for British boys and girls is highly desirable, it is only just to the denizens of the ancient and enormous Empire of China to put on record that one of the reasons urged by the parents for this segregation, viz., the fear of moral contamination of their children from association with Chinese schoolmates, is based on popular prejudice, which is not supported by the evidence of those competent to form an opinion founded upon experience. On the occasion of a visit to the Central School in 1885, General Cameron, then administering the gov-ernment, asked the headmaster his opinion of the morals of his Chinese pupils, and received the answer: "About the same as those of school-boys of other nations, certainly not worse." Dr. Stewart, the previous headmas-ter, on being appealed to, corroborated the statement. Dr. Eitel, the Inspec-tor of Schools, whose experience was still more varied, as he had been for many years a missionary among the Hakka population on the mainland, then made the following important pronouncement: 'Taking them class by class, Your Excellency, the Chinese compare very favourably with Western nations in the matter of morality." The General laughed, and said "That is your opinion, gentlemen. Well, nobody will believe you." Here we have the whole affair in a nutshell. Popular prejudice is tenacious of life. Nobody will accept an actual fact opposed to the belief of the man in the street.
When Inspector of Schools, Dr. Stewart endeavoured to induce the Government to favour a policy of compulsory education then exploited in England. All succeeding inspectors of schools have concluded, and justly so, that it is absolutely impracticable to dream of introducing compulsory education into Hongkong. The enormous army of school attendance offi-cers necessary to render the scheme in the least degree efficient, is in itself sufficiently appalling; to say nothing of the time that would be wasted at the magisterial court in warning and fining offenders. The discrepancy between the estimated number of children of school age in the Colony, and those attending school is largely accounted for by the boating popula-tion; though even these are not indifferent to the advantages of Western education, as Queen's College and Yaumati Government School can tes-tify. From whatever cause, however, there, has been in the last few years a very perceptible decrease in the number of children seen toiling up the hillside with loads of brick and earth.
Chinese boys are for the most part docile, well-behaved, and, to some extent, eager to learn. They have, however, a disposition to be eclectic. If, for instance, they do not see the present advantage of the study of geogra-phy or geometry, they neglect these subjects as far as the rules of the school may permit. They do not recognise that in a commercial career, a correct knowledge of cities and countries, of their manufactures and prod-ucts, may be of real service in after life; nor do they appreciate the fact that the average Chinaman is incapable of sustaining an argument, starting with false or indeterminate premisses and cheerfully pursuing a circui-tous course to the point from which he started, the only cure for which is a rigid course of geometrical study. There is, perhaps, no characteristic of the Chinese nation more universally admitted than their possession of a marvellous memory. But the questions arise: Is it a serviceable memory? Is it not rather an agent for cramming? Are there not, as a matter of fact, nearly 99 per cent, of them incapable of remembering, after the lapse of a year, the salient points of any subject (say history) in which they have passed an examination successfully? Again, though like most Eastern nations, the Chinese show a greater aptitude for the acquisition of knowl-edge in arithmetic, algebra, and trigonometry, than is possessed by the average Western school-boy, they can hardly the credited with the mathe-matical genius accorded to them by popular opinion. Their memory is not accretive; too often will they be found to have forgotten elementary prin-ciples, with which they were acquainted two or three years previously. As a rule they are lacking in initiative; they can repeat the same mathematical exercise provided the conditions are the same, but will be at a loss if a slight change is introduced requiring the exercise of independent thought. In spite, however, of these points of adverse criticism, Chinese, taking them all round, are more apt and willing pupils than European boys.
THE INSPECTORATE OF SCHOOLS
The growth of education in this Colony has been unostentatious and slow. Like a germinating plant, it at first followed the lines of least resis-tance, but as it matured it became firmly rooted, and the buffets of con-flicting circumstances have only proved beneficial. It is now hardy and weather-proof. As we have seen, the Government began by encouraging missionary efforts. It remained for a missionary to be the prime factor in rousing the Government to a full sense of its responsibility in the matter of taking a lead in the education of the Colony. Dr. James Legge, of Aber-deen, the celebrated Sinologue, Senior Missionary of the London Mission-ary Society, was at the time chairman of the Government Educational Board, and he was successful in inducing the Government to agree to the foundation of the government Central School in Gough Street, and to the appointment of Mr. (later Dr.) Frederick Stewart, also of Aberdeen Uni-versity, to be the first headmaster, combined with which office were the additional duties of Inspector of Schools. Mr. Stewart arrived in 1862. He had many difficulties to cope with, prominent amongst them being the indifference of the Chinese of those days to the advantages of Western education. In a few years, however, he had various Government schools established in sundry villages of the island and at Kowloon, in addition to two more important schools �X Government Schools at Wantsai and Saiyingpun. As soon as Dr. Legge saw Mr. Stewart firmly seated in the saddle, he generously recommended to the Government the complete emancipation of the former from the Educational Board, and this was immediately granted. For nineteen years Dr. Stewart remained Inspector of Schools, during which time the number of Government and Grant-in-aid Schools swelled considerably, and the increase in school attendance and the extension of proficiency in English were thoroughly satisfactory. Attacks on the educational system were made during the Governorship of Sir J. Pope-Hennessy. Dr. Stewart first begged to be relieved of the oner-ous duties of Inspector of Schools, Dr. Eitel being at once appointed to the vacancy. In 1881, Dr. Stewart successfully made application for the post of Police Magistrate. He subsequently became Registrar-General, Acting Colonial Secretary, and, at the time of his death, in 1889, was Colonial Secretary. The Chinese evinced their high appreciation of Dr. Stewart's services by founding a scholarship at Queen's College in his memory. A
large coloured window in a transept of St. John's Cathedral permanently records the sentiments of the general public.
Dr. Eitel was Inspector of Schools from 1879 to 1897. Education con-tinued to flourish during his tenure of office, the chief features of which were the impetus given to female education, the removal of religious disabilities in schools, and the reduction in the number of school days annually necessary for the Government grant. The arrival of Sir George Bo wen in 1883 was signalised by a burst of educational ardour. Scholar-ships were granted giving free education at the Central School to boys from the Government District Schools, and an annual Government schol-arship of �G200 a year for four years was founded to enable Hongkong boys to proceed to England for the further study required for a professional career. To the enterprising courage of Mr. C. J. Bateman was due the starting of the Cambridge Local Examinations in Hongkong. A year or two later, Hongkong was made a centre for the Oxford Locals, with Mr. Wright as local secretary, Oxford proving more amenable than Cam-bridge in granting concessions to Hongkong on account of its great dis-tance from England. The Chinese College of Medicine was inaugurated, and proved an unqualified success. With the exhibition of so much educa-tional energy, a friendly spirit of rivalry was excited amongst the schools of the Colony that continues to the present day with very beneficial results. School sports, which previously had been confined to individual schools, were re-organised and amalgamated into one annual function known as the Hongkong Schools' Sports. Dr. Eitel spent considerable time and energy in the formation of a cadet corps in connection with all the leading schools. One combined and rather imposing general parade was held on the cricket ground, but, like most new ideas in Hongkong, it was doomed to early extinction. To the great grief of all the headmasters concerned Dr. Eitel succeeded during Sir William Robinson's regime in inducing the Government to abolish the Government scholarship to Eng-land, and the local free scholarships founded ten years previously. The latter alone have been restored.
On the retirement of Dr. Eitel in 1897, the Hon. Mr. A. W. Brewin (now Registrar-General) was for a brief period Inspector of Schools. He was followed by Mr. E. A. Irving, the present inspector, in 1901. The past six years have shown a great stimulus in education, especially during the short time that Sir Matthew Nathan ruled the Colony. In fact, it would appear just to say that of the three Governors who most bestirred them-selves about educational matters �X Sir J. Pope-Hennessy, Sir George Bowen, and Sir Matthew Nathan �X the efforts of the last are the most likely to provide permanent benefit to the Colony. The school study of hygiene was, it is true, made part of imperial policy by the Secretary of State, for the Colonies, but it is no less true that its zealous adoption in Hongkong was due to the late Governor, while the institution of the Evening Continuation Classes was His Excellency's own idea. These classes
have proved so successful that they have recently been re-christened "Hongkong Technical College/' and made a sub-department of the In-spectorate of Schools, with an Advisory Committee, the chairman of which, the Hon. Mr. A. W. Brewin, has done yeoman service during the past eighteen months. Besides being an active member of the League of the Empire, connected with whose agency is visual instruction by lectures and magic lantern exhibitions on the subject of the British Empire, the Inspector of Schools, Mr. Irving, has been particularly successful in pro-moting in the Government District Schools the improvement of English conversation by the Chinese, and in urging throughout the Colony the acceptance of vernacular instruction on a Western, as contrasted with a Chinese, system.
EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS
A brief reference must now he made to the various Hongkong educa-tional establishments not alluded to above. Queen's College will be dealt with separately below. Of the oldest, St. Paul's College, the Diocesan School, St. Joseph's College, the Italian Convent, L'Asile de la Sainte Enfance, the Berlin and Basel, and the Baxter Girl's Missions at once claim attention. The work of the London Mission in early times has already been referred to and still briskly flourishes. St. Paul's College, originally in-tended for a missionary training school, has reverted to its purpose, after various side attempts at educating the British population. The Diocesan
Illus. 4.16 Queen's College.
School, at first a mixed school, devoted itself to the exclusive education of boys some twenty years ago. Its school building has been considerably en-larged, and its educational successes have been conspicuous. The Roman Catholic School of St. Saviour's migrated to St. Joseph's in about 1880. A new storey has recently been added to the building, in itself evidence of the success which marks the generous unpaid zeal of the Christian Broth-ers, who, in a truly catholic spirit, admit Jews, Turks, Heretics, and Infi-dels to the benefit of their high-class education. The Italian convent, L'As-ile de la Sainte Enfance, Berlin, Basel and Baxter Missions, are some of the oldest institutions for girls; the first two mentioned proving, also, of educational service to the community at large, and the last having risen from an enrolment of eleven in 1883 to its present number of sixty. Amongst more recently started schools we must note the Belilios Public School for Girls, the Diocesan School for Girls, Ellis-Kadoorie School (now called Hongkong College), St. Stephen's College for the sons of the better-class of Chinese, and, at Kowloon, the Home for Girls and a Blind School. Outside the Education Department are a number of private schools where a good education is provided in English and Portuguese. In this category are also the Kaifong schools, promoted by the native gentry, for the study of vernacular by the poorer classes; and schools for the study of English, endowed by the liberality of gentlemen like Messrs. Ho Kom-tong and the late Chan He-wan. To the names of these gentlemen as public benefactors should be added those of the late Mr. E.R. Belilios, Mr. Ellis Kadoorie, and Mr. Ho Tung, who have built schools referred to passim above.
Hongkong is a centre for the London University Matriculation, the Oxford Local Examinations, and the Royal College of Music, and, on leaving the colony, its students have distinguished themselves in England and the United States of America. It may, therefore, be admitted that, however sui generis Hongkong may have been thirty years ago, it can now lay claim to have entered the educational comity of nations.
The following table of statistics shows the steady growth of educa-tional progress in the colony, remarkable in the case of female education, which was, at first, naturally opposed to Chinese ideas:-
No. of Girls Percentage
Year Schools Scholars only of Girls
1866 16 1,870 45 2.4
1876 41 2,922 543 18.5
1886 90 5,844 1,683 28.8
1896 120 7301 2,702 37.0
1906 85 7,642 3,289 43.0
QUEEN'S COLLEGE. �X Like the Royal College at Mauritius and the
Harrison College at Barbados, Queen's College, Hongkong, is an entirely separate Government department, independent of the Inspectorate of Schools. Its history, therefore, demands individual treatment.
When Dr. Stewart in 1862 opened the Government Central School in Gough Street, that district, though in close proximity to the Queen's Road, was semi-rural, being occupied by villa residences, interspersed with trees and bamboo groves. The site was admirable adapted to the purpose, being equi-distant from the two extremities, east and west, of the city of Victoria, to supply whose educational needs was its object. A building in the shape of a letter H was erected, affording accommodation for about 350 boys. The central bar was a sort of hall, in which rows of benches rose one above another, tier upon tier. Two classes were taught here, and three in each of the adjoining wings. Screens were impossible, so that instruction, under the conditions, suffered considerable disadvantage.
There was at first some difficulty in inducing Chinese to see the benefit accruing from Western studies. Fees, of course, were quite out of the question, and a few years later the charge of fifty cents a month was not made without much apprehension. However, in four years 222 boys were on the annual roll. In 1876 this number had risen to 577. It became necessary to use the four basement rooms of the headmaster's and second master's quarters as class-rooms, and the need for erecting a much larger building providing a separate room for each class became apparent.
Though only reaching the borders of what is understood by Secon-dary Education, the Central School turned out an immense number of
Illus. 4.17 St. Joseph's English College.
well-educated pupils of all nationalities, as can be testified by many Chi-nese, English, Indian, Parsee, and Portuguese gentlemen now in the Col-ony upwards of forty-five years of age. In 1877 an attack was made on the work done at the Central School in a pamphlet, popularly ascribed to the pen of the late Mr. J. J. Francis, Q.C., and entitled "Does the Central School fulfil its raison d'etre?" A commission was appointed by Sir John Pope-Hennessy to inquire into the possibility of providing a better system, and to consider whether the erection of five Government schools under Euro-pean headmasters, one being a collegiate establishment, would not prove more beneficial to the needs of the Colony than one new large building. The report was published in 1882, the commissioners disapproving of His Excellency's scheme, which later experience, however, would seem to have shown highly commendable. The Government thereupon resolved to build what is now known as Queen's College, the foundation of which was laid by Sir George Bowen in 1884.
In 1881 Dr. Stewart, at his own request, was transferred to the post of Police Magistrate, and in November of the same year the present head-master, Mr. (Dr. in 1891) G.H. Bateson Wright, was appointed by Earl Kimberley. Immediately on his arrival in January, 1882, Mr. Wright held the annual examination of the Central School, and, though not in a posi-tion to write a report on a year's work with which he had no personal acquaintance, he stated in a speech to Sir John Pope-Hennessy at the prize distribution that he was much struck with the attainments in the English language of the Chinese boys, and that the results of the examination reflected great credit on the management of the school and the labours of the masters.
The following changes were immediately effected. A half-yearly ex-amination was instituted and has been maintained ever since, to secure the efficiency of the work in the first half-year and to minimise the evils of cramming in the second half. The power to administer corporal punish-ment was restricted to the headmaster, and all forms of assault were strictly prohibited. The study of grammar and geography was extended to two lower classes, and algebra, geometry, and mensuration were restored to the curriculum. In the preparation of examination questions every care was taken to obviate the possibility of answers that were simply feats of memory without any evidence of the exercise of intelligent effort. The consequence was that for the next eight years, while the headmaster (in so small a school) was able to take an active part in tuition, the Inspector of Schools, who held the office of Annual Independent Examiner, in his reports published in the Government Gazette, spoke in the most compli-mentary terns of the work done at the Central School. In 1884 Walter Bosman was elected the First Government Scholar, and proceeded to England, where he had a brilliant career at the Crystal Palace Engineering Institute, he has since been in the Government service at Natal as Director of Public Works at Eshowe and Durban. The thanks of the Imperial
*
Illus. 4.18 St. Joseph's English College (Group of Scholars).
Government were accorded to him for delimiting the Portuguese frontier, and a couple of years ago he was aide-de-camp to the Colonel in charge of the expedition to suppress the rising in Natal.
In July, 1889, the premier Government institution migrated from the old Central School to Queen's College, erected on an open spot, insulated by four roads, a little higher up the hill. In January, 1889, there were 438 boys on the roll at the Central School; in July and September of the same year there were at Queen's College 510 and 796 respectively. By this sudden practical doubling of the number of students, the vast majority of whom were naturally admitted to the bottom classes, one would have thought it self-evident that the work of the next three or four years would be exceptionally arduous, and that the steady progress of the previous eight years must, as a matter of course, be retarded. Sir William Robinson, however, after a residence in the Colony of six months, caused consider-able astonishment, and in some quarters indignation, by the public an-nouncement at the Queen's College Prize Distribution in January, 1892, that Queen's College was a failure. This dictum, which would have been the ruin of a private school, did not affect the popularity of Queen's College with the Chinese. It is, indeed, very instructive to note that during the very six years that the college was suffering from the gubernatorial frown, Chinese masters and pupils were urgently required at the Imperial Tientsin University, where their excellent proficiency in English secured them a hearty welcome and rapid promotion. Of these sixty young men, at least four are now Taoutais, Wen Tsung-yao is Secretary to the Viceroy at Canton, Dr. Chan Kam-to is in the Finance Bureau at Peking, and Wong Fan and Leung Lan-fan are on Railways and Telegraph Service respec-tively. Verily, it may be said of Queen's College, as of the prophet, that it is not without honour save in its own country.
In 1894 the constitution of the college was changed by the appoint-ment of a governing body, whose first act in 1895 was to abolish the vernacular school, restoring it, however, nine years later. In 1896 inde-pendent examiners were nominated by the governing body to hold the winter examination and report on the college. With only two exceptions this practice was continued annually till 1903, when the governing body resolved that an annual inspection in July and report by the independent examiners would be of greater service than the examination of a thousand boys in January, the conduct of which was left in 1904 and onwards (as prior to 1896) to the control of the headmaster. A very wide gulf sunders the conditions of these two examinations. In January every boy is exam-ined, and the whole year's work is under review; in July the boys are tested in new work upon which they have been engaged for only four months, and about 20 per cent, are taken by the sample method.
Queens' College is fortunate in the possession of an excellent staff. Of the English staff, apart from the headmaster, there are three trained certifi-cated masters, the remainder are graduates of universities �X three from Cambridge, two from Trinity College, Dublin, one from Oxford, and one from Aberdeen. The senior Chinese masters leave nothing to be desired, and most of the junior are satisfactory. The native masters are trained under the charge of a normal master. Twenty years ago, when the salary was only $4 a month, the head boys of the school were eager to be monitors, now that they receive $20 rising to $35 a month great difficulty is experienced in finding suitable boys to be articled pupil teachers, though by this course of training their market value is considerable enhanced on account of their greater proficiency in English.
The Oxford Local Examinations, which have been held at Hongkong as a centre for twenty years, during which time 1,400 candidates, boys and girls, have been examined, have proved of inestimable value. Besides providing an impartial test of the educational work done in the Colony, unmarred by local bias on either side, they have been of great service to Hongkong boys in procuring for them admission to English and Ameri-can schools and universities, and in obtaining exemption from profes-sional preliminary examinations. Queen's College has always had a diffi-culty to cope with in presenting candidates. The majority of these boys after promotion at the commencement of the school year have in March to begin to prepare for the examination in July. They are, therefore, practi-cally examined upon their knowledge gained in ordinary school routine, and very little on the special requirements of the locals. In spite of this drawback, however, they have done very creditably. Third Class Junior Honours were obtained in 1907, and distinctions as follow: -1895, Senior Mathematics and Preliminary History: 1898, Junior English; 1899, Senior English.
In an ambitious upward course Queen's College is hindered by the
Illus. 4.19 Ellis Kadoorie Chinese Schools Society.
following considerations. It is a day-school, so that all attempts to teach English conversation are necessarily confined to school hours, after which all the boys immediately revert to Chinese thought and expression, and no supervision can be given to preparation of work. Again, fully one-third of the boys change annually, and this has always been the case from time immemorial. Four hundred boys leaving and four hundred new boys being admitted annually is a very serious obstacle in the way of obtaining a large and efficient upper school. In this connection it is to be observed that there is no external system for feeding the upper classes of Queen's College such as exists in any large town in England, for the half-dozen boys from the Government district schools are lost sight of when the number of seats available (420) is borne in mind.
The following table serves to illustrate the slow but steady progress of Queen's College. "The day of small things" is past. Gradually the number of subjects in the curriculum has increased, and the increase in the number of scholars taking those subjects is enormous. Queen's College has justi-fied the high reputation it enjoys in the neighbouring vast Empire of China, and, with due encouragement, its future prospects are practically limitless.
Total number of boys examined in each subject.
1881 1885 1889 1907
English to Chinese 301 379 676 771
Chinese to English 301 379 676 771
Grammar 172 312 547 1,085
Geography 144 253 477 1,085
Composition 83 127 360 771
History 30 75 143 322
Geometry �X 75 143 557
Algebra �X 75 143 557
Mensuration �X 25 24 118
Latin �X �X 117 �X
General Intelligence �X �X 83 34
Shakespeare �X �X 24 34
Trigonometry �X �X 17 14
Hygiene �X �X �X 771
Book-keeping �X �X �X 118
THE REV. G. H. BATESON WRIGHT, D.D. (Oxon.). �X Seated qui-etly at his desk, or presiding over his classes, the gentleman who, for upwards of twenty-six years, has been the headmaster of Queen's College, has, perhaps, done more than any of his contemporaries towards the for-mation of that sterling character which so distinguishes the educated Chinese of Hongkong. The histo-
ries of many of the Colony's
greatest men may be read in her
stones and thoroughfares, in her
docks and wharves, in the innu-
merable outward and tangible
evidences of her commercial
prosperity; but the history of Dr.
George Henry Bateson Wright is
writ even more legibly upon the
lengthening human scroll issu-
ing from Hongkong's leading
academy. The second son of the
late George Bache Wright, of the
Peninsular and Oriental Steam
Navigation Company's London
office, and grandson of Augus-
Illus.4.20 Dr. G.H.B. Wright, tus Wright, storekeeper of the
Queen's College. magazine, Priddy's Hard,
Gosport, during the Crimean War, Dr. Wright was born in 1853. He was educated at Queen's College, Oxford, where he graduated B.A., with second-class Theological Hon-ours, in June, 1875. He gained the Denyer and Johnson Scholarship and the Kennicott Hebrew Scholarship in 1876, and, in the following year, the Syriac Prize and the Pusey and Elerton Scholarship. He was ordained at Worcester a Deacon (Gospel) in 1877, and became Curate of Ladbroke, Warwickshire. In the following year he was admitted to the priesthood, again heading the list of candidates, and subsequently held the curacies of Christ Church, Bradford, and St. Peter's, Bournemouth. For a time he was a private tutor at Oxford, and in 1881 he was appointed headmaster of Queen's College. He proceeded to the degree of B.D. in February, 1891, and by grace of Convocation was allowed to take the degree of D.D. in May of the same year, when he was only thirty-eight years of age. In 1884 he published a work entitled "A Critical Edition of the Book of Job," whilst in 1895 published "Was Israel ever in Egypt?" Dr. Wright is mar-ried and lives at "Ladbroke, "No. 9, Conduit Road. His recreation lies in his work.
ST. JOSEPH'S ENGLISH COLLEGE. �X This well-known institution is conducted by the Brothers of the Christian Schools, and is under the patronage of the Right Rev. Domenico Pozzoni, D.D., Vicar Apostolic of Hongkong. The work of the Brothers is too well known to need any comment here; suffice it to say that their name is familiar in every country, and at present they control over two thousand large educational establish-ments, where well-nigh four hundred thousand pupils are being equipped for the great struggle of life.
When the Brothers came to Hongkong thirty years ago, they took charge of a small school in Caine Road where they had but seventy pupils. The number steadily increased, and in two years they had one of the most flourishing schools in the Colony. To accommodate the ever-increasing number of boarders and day scholars more room was required, and in 1881 the foundation of the present building was laid by Sir John Pope-Hennessy, then Governor of Hongkong. In 1891 it was found necessary to add a third storey for the accommodation of the boarders, and three years afterwards the building was still further enlarged by the addition of two wings.
To-day the school is one of the most up-to-date educational establish-ments in the Far East. The building, surrounded by trees and pleasant patches of green, is delightfully situated on a height which commands an extensive view of the city and harbour of Victoria. Ample accommodation is provided for five hundred scholars, and in the boarding department there is room for eighty. The dormitory, which occupies more than half the third storey, is very well lighted and ventilated. It is surrounded by verandahs which greatly enhance the comfort of the place both in summer and in winter. Adjoining the dormitory are private rooms for students who wish to devote more time to their studies. On the second floor is the boarders' study hall �X a spacious apartment, capable of affording sitting accommodation for over 120, and in which are held public meetings on certain occasions during the year. It is lighted by numerous electric lamps, and the walls are freely hung with maps and picture. There is a handsome stage at one end of the hall, where the students have an opportunity of developing their debating powers. The majority of the classrooms are on the ground floor, and can accommodate forty pupils each. They are fur-nished with all teaching requisites and have a very cheerful appearance. On the third storey are three class-rooms specially set apart for Chinese boys, and these are also equipped with the necessary appliances for the instruction of the pupils.
The aim of the institution is to give Catholic youths and others, with-out distinction of creed or persuasion, a thorough moral, intellectual, and physical education. The staff consists of twelve thoroughly trained Euro-pean masters, who have devoted their lives to the work. There are also two competent Chinese teachers to give a regular course of instruction to Chinese boys in their own language. When these boys leave school they will have the advantage of knowing both English and Chinese. To facili-tate the imparting of instruction, and to enable the pupils to derive full benefit from it, the Chinese boys of the lower standards are separated from the others, and receive instruction suited to their capacity. In the higher standards, the boys are prepared for the Oxford Local Examina-tion, in addition to receiving a sound commercial training.
Shorthand and typewriting are taught with great success,and several of the students have already obtained first-class certificates in these sub-jects. Book-keeping, commercial geography, commercial arithmetic, and correspondence also occupy a prominent place in the school syllabus. In all the classes great importance is attached to the teaching of English. It is the only language tolerated both on the playground and in the classroom, except in the lower standards of the Chinese department. High marks are generally obtained by the boys of the college at the Oxford Examination for this most important subject. The school curriculum also includes relig-ious instruction, French, arithmetic, algebra, geometry, history, and hy-giene. In addition the boys receive a special course in freehand, model, geometrical, and architectural drawing, from a thoroughly competent master, and the school has always enjoyed a high reputation for the success it has achieved in the teaching of this branch of education.
The physical training of the pupils receives due attention. A regular course of physical drill is given by a sergeant specially appointed by the Government for that purpose. On certain occasions during the year the boys are called upon to perform some of these exercises on the stage, and the skill and exactitude with which they go through them elicits the hearty applause of the onlookers. A keen interest is taken in out-door games, and in the shield competition every year the school holds a high place. A football and cricket club has been established in the college with a view to encouraging these games, the teachers recognising that "all work and no play maketh a dull boy." When unable to pursue their accustomed out-door amusements, owing to bad weather, the pupils retire to the club-room, where the time may be passed pleasantly at a game of billiards or chess, or in the perusal of interesting literature.
Hundreds of young men educated in the college have attained hon-ourable and lucrative positions in different parts of the world by the application of that knowledge and of those principles of right and honesty which were instilled into them during their early days.
ST. PAUL'S COLLEGE. �X This institution,situated in the Lower Al-bert Road, Hongkong, was founded in 1843 by the first Colonial Chaplain of the Colony, with the object of providing men as native teachers and preachers. It is now the Training College of the Church Missionary Soci-ety's South China Mission, and comprises two departments �X one for boys and the other for men. In that for boys the sons of Christian parents are received at the age of sixteen, and, after three years training, if they are found suitable, they pass into the day or boarding schools of the mission as schoolmasters, under the supervision of English or Chinese clergy. In the student class, under a separate organisation, men not under the age of twenty are trained as native preachers and catechists. This department was commenced in 1899 by the Rev. C. Bennett, at Shiu-Hing, and later in the same year the students were moved to Canton. In 1900 it was found that Hongkong would be a more suitable centre, and the college was ultimately transferred to its present premises, placed at its disposal by the late Bishop Hoare. Recently there has been established in connection with the college a preparatory school at Kowloon, where an old official yamen is held under the colonial Government on a repairing lease.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is hon. visitor to the college, and the Bishop of Victoria is the warden. The Sub-warden and Principal is the Rev. G. A. Bunbury M.A., who is loyally assisted in the work by a Chinese graduate. There are four men in the student class, twenty boys in the training college, and about fifty boarders and day-boys in the Kowloon preparatory school. The curriculum embraces the essential subjects, the aim of the college being directed rather towards thoroughness of teaching than towards variety. The Chinese language is, at present, the medium of instruction.
THE ELLIS KADOORIE CHINESE SCHOOLS SOCIETY. �X This society, whose work extends through Hongkong, Canton, and Shanghai, was formed at the suggestion of the well-known merchant whose name it bears. Its chief object is to overcome the difficulty felt by the Chinese poor of obtaining a sound education on Western lines, and at the same time to see that the Chinese language itself is taught. Six schools have been opened �X one in Hongkong, two in Canton, and three in Shanghai �X having, in all, over a thousand pupils. The work is carried on by English masters, assisted by a competent staff of Anglo-Chinese teachers, and the curriculum embraces a wide range of subjects, from rudimentary conso-nantal sounds to higher and commercial arithmetic, map-drawing, his-tory, and translation. The Hongkong school is situated in the neighbour-hood of the Government Civil Hospital.
MR. EDWARD ALEXANDER IRVING, Inspector of Schools, Hongkong, was born in 1870, and at the age of twenty-one joined the Perak Civil Service as a junior officer. Whilst in the Malay States he qualified in law, and acquired a knowledge of Malay, Hakka, and Canton-ese, and filled various appointments in Perak and Selangor in the Mines Departments and Chinese Protectorate. He arrived in Hongkong in April, 1901, as Inspector of Schools, and has held that office ever since, except on two occasions when he acted as Registrar-General and Member of the Legislative Council. He resides at "Kinta," the Peak.
A PROPOSED UNIVERSITY. �X A proposal to establish a university in Hongkong assumed a tangible form in March, 1908, when Mr. Mody, a
local gentleman well-known for his public benefactions, promised $150,000 for the purpose of erect-ing the necessary buildings, on condition that a site and an en-dowment fund were provided. The idea of a local university was first mooted in the China Mail some few years previously. It was suggested by this journal that the nucleus of the university should be the Medical College and the Technical Institute, that the en-dowment fund should be raised by the public, and that a grant of land should be made by the Gov-ernment. At the time of writing, this scheme is under the consid-eration of the local Legislature, and it is very probable that a site at West Point, on the Bonham Illus. 4.21 Mr. H.N. Mody Road level, will be granted.
MR. H.N. MODY, whose munificence is referred to in the foregoing paragraph, comes of a well-known Parsee family, is one of the oldest residents, and one of the most striking personalities in financial circles, in Hongkong. It is more than forty-seven years since he came to the Colony to enter the service of a firm of Hindoo bankers and opium merchants. With them he remained for three years before launching his own opium business, which rapidly grew to large dimensions. With the advent of the submarine cable, however, Mr. Mody realised that the halcyon days of the operations in opium were gone, so he turned his attention to dealing in stocks and shares and to exchange brokerage. Refusing to recognise the existence of such a word as "impossible" he soon came to the front, and for years he has played the leading part on the local stock exchange, carrying through many transactions of considerable magnitude. More than once he lost his all, for in his career he has had difficulties to over-come and obstacles to surmount, but with fine courage and estimable self-confidence he has braved the storms and steered his barque to safely. Always possessed of a marvellous memory and a wonderful fund of energy and zeal, even now, at an age when most business men are content to rest on their laurels, his activity is proverbial. He has built up an extensive business in exchange brokerage, having acquired the control of the bulk of the settlements made by many important Indian firms in the
Colony, and, with the large fortune amassed by these means, he has mate-rially assisted in the development of the island. With his partner, Sir Paul Chater, CMC , Mr. Mody is connected with most of the important indus-trial concerns, and was closely associated with Mr. A. H. Rennie in the establishment of the Hongkong Milling Company, Ltd., in which promis-ing enterprise he holds a large number of shares. Numerous and varied as are Mr. Mod/s business interests, however, he still finds time to take a prominent part in social life. Many charitable institutions have benefited considerably by his munificence, and though he carries on his good work in a quiet unostentatious manner, his benevolence and public spirit are gratefully recognised by the community. The Colony will soon be en-riched by a magnificent statue of H.R.H. the Princess of Wales, a gift from Mr. Mody, which is now being executed in England. Mr. Mody also takes great interest in sport, and for many years has been a staunch supporter of the Hongkong Jockey Club, at whose annual race meeting his colours are always to the fore. On several occasions he has won the local Derby as well as other important races. Mr. Mody brings to the turf that integrity and steadfastness of purpose which have served him so well in business, and the enthusiastic manner in which his many victories have been ac-claimed testifies unmistakably to the high place he occupies in the public esteem. His hospitality, too, is renowned and, among all nationalities, he is recognised as a prince of good fellows.
26. A view of the building of an educational 'system' (Illus. 4.22).
The editor/author of this book customarily makes use of a cartoon similar to the one below, for teaching purposes. In these circumstances, however, he is able to take advantage of multiple overlays on an overhead projector screen. This technique enables him to 'build up' the system in front of his students and to demonstrate how (and when) the protective, consolidating hands of the Education Department and the Education Ordinance came into action. In this static version of the same idea, readers may wish to query the placement of the various building blocks and to consider the comments being suggested about the foundations and about the stability and design (or their opposites) of the whole structure.
Illus. 4.22 A view of the building of an educational 'system'.
Chapter Five
ENLARGEMENT AND VERNACULARIZATION 1914-41
COMMENTARY
Hong Kong's educational 'system', legitimized and empowered by the first Edu-cation Ordinance of 1913, was influenced in the next few decades by three main factors: demographic, political and economic.
The population of Hong Kong increased from an estimated 501,304 in mid-1914 to a census count of 625,166 in 1921,840,473 in 1931, and to 1,639,377 in 1941 (the Census for this last year including only estimated figures for the New Territo-ries). The total school-population rose from 19,381 in 1914, to 35,282 in 1921,68,593 in 1931, and 118,193 in 1939. There must have been at least 120,000 pupils in school in 1941.
The fact that the general population and the school population became so much enlarged and, therefore, apparently, more substantial during this period must not, however, be taken to indicate that there was any greater degree of social cohesion or community coherence. Indeed, the Seamen's Strike of 1922, the Anti-British General Strike and Boycott of 1925-26, and especially, the renewed and conspicuously larger wave of Chinese refugees entering Hong Kong from the late 1930s in reaction to the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, contributed to the heightening of socio-ethnic fragmentation. As early as 1914, E.A. Irving, the first Director of Education, commented:
But the main educational problem attaches to the Urban Chinese. It has been shown how they all, with the partial exception of the poorest, are bound to the Colony by the easiest of connections. This ephemeral quality of merchant or shop-keeper very greatly relieves the sense of responsibil-ity with which an educator must regard him. There need be no talk of free, much less of compulsory education. The Chinese, as a rule, comes here for what he can make; so we must educate his sons for what we can make of them. How much is that?
Since Chinese is so difficult a language that it is only studied by Government Officials, Missionaries and Sikh policemen, English must be the general medium of communication. Thus at the very outset we are committed to the establishment of English Schools for Chinese, not as a moral obligation but as a commercial necessity.. -1
1. Imperial Conference Papers, Educational Systems of the Chief Colonies not possessing Respon-sible Government �X Hong Kong (Hong Kong: Noronha & Co., Government Printers, 1914), p.
10. See also Evidence 1 below.
Shortly after the 1925 Strike and Boycott, Professor Lancelot Forster reached the following, quite different conclusions about the situation, though he started from some similar observations about the lack of a deep sense of loyalty to the British among the local Chinese:
. . . Not less but more education, an education that touches not the select few, but the general populace, is what is needed ...
. .. The present noisy element consists of those who have been edu-cated but whose abilities are not engaged in productive occupations, because the economic and political progress of the country has not kept pace with the growth of western knowledge ...
... the Chinese in Hongkong are not governed by the British, they are governed by, and are loyal to Canton. In the course of eleven years residence in the Colony I have yet to meet a pure Chinese who said he was a British subject...
The fact is that Hongkong is merely a pied-de-terre both for British and Chinese residents... The contact between the two races is for mutual gain
�X material gain. There is contact but no fusion, no community of thought or feeling...
... The question is can the British Colony ever hope to counteract this [Soviet] influence [on China] by being something more than a commercial community, can it ever become a centre for the diffusion of British ideals and British culture, a place where an intellectual entente can be estab-lished. The attempt has been made. Schools, very efficient ones, have been established, a university has been founded, but in spite of that, there has been no conspicuous adhesion to the British point of view .. ?
This latter point may, perhaps, be partly explained through noting that, in the annual reports by Directors of Education up to 1941, the interests and implicit superiority of British teachers, pupils, administrators and parents seemed to be taken for granted. Thus, for example, the section on 'Schools for Europeans' regularly preceded the section on 'Schools for Asiatics'.3
Even �X or perhaps especially �X the very end of this period suggested to some observers a lack of rapport between the British overlords of official policy and the Chinese who were both recipients and influencing factors. Thus, it was claimed that:
The attack on Hong Kong in December 1941 demonstrated that Hong Kong, even after 100 years, was still a trading mart, not a community. The
2.
See also Evidence 22 in this chapter.
3.
This attitude can be traced back to earlier periods; for example, in his Annual Reports, Irving regularly defined the schools in the following manner: 'An Upper Grade School means one in which at least part of the Staff is European. Lower Grade Schools are those under purely native management' {Hong Kong Government Gazette, 30 June 1905, p. 1023).
Chinese showed little loyalty to the British, and the British little concern
for or trust in the Chinese.4
Battle-shocked soldiers from British, Indian or Canadian regiments, or from the local Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps did not receive a boost to morale, as they were desperately striving to defend Hong Kong, by the sight of looters taking short-term advantage of the anarchy of December 1941 or by the evidence of quite considerable fifth-column support for the invaders. At least one civilian noted that opportunity was taken to settle old scores, as mobs of relatively poor and disadvantaged local Chinese ransacked the homes of the local Chinese and Eurasian elite, accusing them of being the running dogs of British colonialism and gleefully roaring 'Sing Lei! Sing LeiV to mark their own long-awaited victory.5 To some commentators, it appeared that, despite the proud claims made a few months before about the achievements of a century of British occupation of Hong Kong, internal weaknesses inherent in Hong Kong society had brought about the dramatic disintegration of that society, the end of its educational system: indeed, the end of its privilege-laden world. The atmosphere of the whole period may, on the other hand, seem to other observers to indicate especially strong influences from outside Hong Kong which ensured a particularly fragile sense of Hong Kong identity.
There can be no doubt that extraneous events and influences had a strong impact on the development of schooling in Hong Kong during this period. Espe-cially important were:
(a)
The influence of the Chinese Revolution and other nationalistic and cultural movements in China (such as the May Fourth Movement of 1919, and the strikes and boycotts of the early 1920s, the 'New Life' Movement of the late 1920s and 1930s). The development of vernacular education inside Hong Kong, with, eventually, some Government support, may be seen in this light; the participation of school pupils in the 1925 Strike and Boycott should also be noted, as well as attempts by the Chinese Nationalist Party and Govern-ment in China to influence the structure and curricula of Middle Schools in Hong Kong
(b)
The 'Great Depression'. The attention paid to technical education in Hong Kong in the 1930s was explicitly related to anxiety about Hong Kong's economic condition, as was even more directly, the large numbers of children who never went to school; and,
(c)
The outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War and the Second World War. Most obviously, the population influxes, plans for military training (including the drilling of school children in Hong Kong), as well as the increased concern in Britain for the provision and quality of education in its colonies may be attributed to this influence.
4.
Gary Wayne Catron, China and Hong Kong, 1945-1967 (Ph.D. dissertation, Harvard Uni-versity, 1971), p. 27.
5.
Interview with Dr K.S. Lo, 2 March 1982. See also Evidence 24 below.
One of the most significant events in this period, as far as an overview of schooling in Hong Kong is concerned, was the visit, in 1935, of Mr E. Burney, M.C., a British H.M.I. The visit was arranged largely as a result of criticisms in Britain of the Annual Reports of the Director of Education, Hong Kong, which were taken to show up the deficiencies of relying upon a generalist without specific knowledge and experience of education as Director of Education.6 Burney travelled to Hong Kong by sea embarking at the end of 1934. He spent over a month in the colony, with side-trips to Canton and Shanghai in order to familiarize himself with the educational systems there, and produced his draft Report immediately on his return to Britain in late March. The final version of the Report is dated 27 May 1935. The Burney Report comprises, in the main, a forthright criticism of Hong Kong's educational policy. Burney accused the Hong Kong Government of ne-glecting primary education in the vernacular, leaving it too much in the hands of out-of-date private schools. He argued that even secondary education in English, which, at that time, was more fully maintained by public funds, was too academic and not sufficiently related to practical needs. He recommended, therefore, that the Government should associate itself more completely with primary education in Chinese and that, in this sphere, as in the sphere of secondary education, both grammar and technical curriculum and methods should be improved by being related more closely to the environment and the needs of Hong Kong society.
In the years that followed, some attempts were made to implement the Burney Report The establishment of the (Northcote) Training College and the Trade School, the eventual appointment of a Director of Education actually qualified and experienced in education (rather than yet another career civil servant), and the attention paid to physical education and hygiene may all be viewed, at least partly, as consequences of Burney's visit. It might be noted, however, that some-thing resembling a rearguard (and very defensive) action was conducted by the Director of Education of the time, G.R. Sayer, who thereby earned the displeasure of the influential Advisory Committee on Education in the Colonies (ACEC).7
6.
See the Chronicle for 1934 and 1935, Evidence 16, and f.n. 22 below.
7.
The establishment of a special advisory committee in Britain to deal with educational matters in at least some of the colonies dates back to 1923 when, partly under the influence of the first Phelps-Stokes Report on education in Africa, the Advisory Committee on Native Education in the British Tropical African Dependencies was formed. This committee issued its first memorandum in 1925, the initial draft of which owed much to Lord Lugard. The 1925 statement pressed for more positive efforts to be devoted to education in the tropical African colonies in the interests of modernization within a context of stability. In the 'thirties, the advisory committee advocated the use of the vernacular as the language of instruction, particularly at primary school level, argued for increasing the generosity of grant-in-aid schemes, and supported missionary schools as a means of spreading education as widely as possible. In 1929, the Committee was offered a wider jurisdiction and renamed the Advisory Committee for Education in the Colonies. The continuing importance of African concerns may be reflected in its own sub-committee structure, Hong Kong affairs, for example, being dealt with under the 'Non-African Sub-committee'. Furthermore, the
Questions which may repay further thought and the search for further evi-dence include:
*
Why did official attitudes towards and policies for the teaching of the English and Chinese languages change during this period?
*
In what ways did the 'China factor' encourage and in what ways did it hinder educational change in Hong Kong in the years 1914-41?
*
How did public opinion affect the development of schooling in Hong Kong during the period?
*
Which, if any, of Burney's criticisms of the Hong Kong educational system are still appropriate today?
*
In which ways, if any, would a typical school-day in the 1920s or 1930s differ for (a) the pupils; (b) the teachers; (c) the administrators; and (d) the parents, from a typical school-day in the 1980s?
CHRONICLE
1914: Publicity was given to efforts at a justification of the Education Ordinance by Irving, the Director of Education, after some dissension in the press: 'It is justified generally on the grounds that the public are entitled to protec-tion, so far as a Government Department can give it... There is the further argument that state expenditure on education cannot be economically controlled unless the extent of that private educational effort is known, which it professes to supplement. Without compulsory registration this knowledge is unattainable. In Hong Kong there is the further reason that schools are liable to become cover for unlawful propaganda.'
It should be noted that the Ordinance effected the abolition of the Board of Vernacular Primary Education. The Grant Code was revised, upper classes of Anglo-Chinese schools being encouraged by grants to take the Matriculation and Junior Local
next important policy statement issued was the 'Memorandum on the Education of African Communities of 1935', largely under the influence of Sir Fred Clarke. This statement rein-forced the idea that the school was to be a vital part of the process of the social change which was already beginning to occur in these colonies, clearly asserted that the educational programme was to be 'part of a more comprehensive programme directed to the improve-ment of the total life of the community' (Advisory Committee for Education in the Colonies, Memorandum on the Education of African Communities, Col. No. 103, London: HMSO, 1935, p. 4), and was particularly concerned to achieve the most effective rural re-construction of the African colonial societies. Edmund Burney also became an influential member of the ACEC shortly after his visit to Hong Kong, and, later, the Chairman of the Non-African Sub-committee. For further details of the ACEC's disagreements with G.R. Sayer about the implementation of the Burney Report, see Evidence 17, below. It might be noted that Sayer even produced a minority report (when he was in a minority of one) to the Lindsell Committee's Report on Teacher Education, 1938.
Examinations of the University of Hong Kong. In addition the new Grant Code stated: In the case of Chinese boys unless specially exempted by the Director, it [Grant School education] shall include instruction in the Chi-nese written language for at least 6 hours a week. No Chinese boy failing to pass a qualifying entrance examination in the Chinese written examina-tion based on a 2 years course of study may be admitted without special reference to the Director../'... another axiom on which our educational policy rests is that the Chinese are not educated unless they possess a reasonable facility with their own written language.'8
1915: The Director of Education offered his opinion that 'State supervision has justified itself.
Attempts were made to re-organize the elementary curriculum 'to give the child at the end of 3 years a useful knowledge of about 2,000 characters which would enable him to master the sense of a simple pas-sage and write a simple letter.'
St. Paul's Girls' College (re-organized and renamed, after the Second World War, St. Paul's Co-educational College) was established.
The Rev. H.R. Wells left the staff of Queen's College, having perfected the pari-passu system, by which Chinese pupils were compelled to keep their Chinese and English studies in step.
1916: A Department of Education (for teacher training) was opened in the Arts Faculty of Hong Kong University, teaching undergraduates in the Faculty of Arts.
Mr Lau Chu Pak, in a speech at the Legislative Council, expressed his concern about the English standards of Chinese pupils and recommended that the Government appoint a committee to investigate the teaching of Chinese pupils in English so as to increase the efficiency of the teaching of English.
1917: A Committee was appointed to 'enquire into the teaching of the English language to Chinese boys in Government schools, and to examine the question whether by a reduction in the number of other subjects more time can be devoted to such teaching'. The Report stated: We do not recommend any change in the present arrangements, and do not consider that too many subjects are being taught or that too much time is being devoted to such subjects.' Instead, the Committee recommended:
(a)
smaller classes, better buildings and better-paid teachers;
(b)
the appointment of one English teacher to a maximum of 120 pupils;
(c)
the medical inspection of pupils in Government schools.
8. This policy is consistent with the ideas of Frederick Stewart. For example, see Chapter 3, Evidence 1(d). It was probably more directly influenced, however, by the Revolution in China.
347
1918: The system of medical examinations for school children was introduced. The Education Department made it a condition of entry to any Govern-ment or Grant School that pupils should pay a medical subscription equivalent to a month's school fees. Ch'en Jung-Kun moved his ssu-shu from Macau to Hong Kong, where it became one of the most popular of all local private Chinese schools run on traditional lines.9
1919: The May Fourth Movement spread among students and workers in China, provoking enthusiastic nationalistic sentiments and eventually incorpo-rating a National Language Movement. The Hong Kong Wah Yan College was founded by two Catholic laymen in December at 60 Hollywood Road. It moved to new premises in Robinson Road (presently occupied by Raimondi College) two years later and was transferred to the supervision of the Society of Jesus in December 1932.
1920: In the Education Department Report for the year it was stated that: 'It is a well-known fact that the candidates who matriculate from the Straits have a higher knowledge of English as a whole than the average of the Hongkong pupils: the reason in fairness to local schools should be known also. Here by common consent Chinese boys are expected to study Chinese, and this involves three years preliminary study in a Vernacular School, and about eight periods weekly for the eight years of their school career. In the Straits on the contrary it is not held essential that Chinese should be able to write their language ...' (p. 4) The Government does not operate any pure vernacular schools but assists them in four ways: (1) grants, (2) subsidies, (3) inspection, (4) operating normal schools.' (p. 5) The Board of Education was established 'for the purpose of assisting the Director of Education in matters pertaining to the development and improvement of education in the Colony. The Board comprised the Direc-tor of Education, the Senior Inspector of English Schools, the Senior In-spector of Vernacular Schools, and nine nominated members.. / (p. 9) Following the Report of the University Commission, which recom-mended increased Government assistance for the University of Hong Kong, the Government paid the University's debts and made a grant of $1 million.
9. It was, however, more reformist and less Confucianist in character than the Hsiang-fu school run by his cousin, Lu Tzu-Chiin, who had transferred his ssu-shu from Macau to Hong Kong in 1911 and taught in it until 1944. See Bernard Luk, 'Lu Tzu-Chiin and Ch'en Jung-Kun: Two Exemplary Figures in the 'Ssu-shu' Education of Pre-War Urban Hong Kong,' in David Faure, James Hayes and Alan Birch (eds.), From Village to City: Studies in the Traditional Roots of Hong Kong Society (Hong Kong: Centre of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong, 1984), pp. 119-28.
1921: The Vernacular Normal School for Men and Vernacular Normal School for Women were established.
Women were admitted into the University of Hong Kong, at least partly as a response to the increased feminism in China and Hong Kong stimulated especially amongst the educated classes during the 'May Fourth' period.
The Government (as represented by E.R. Halifax, Secretary for Chi-nese Affairs) was reluctant to support the idea of starting up an industrial school for poor boys (later the Aberdeen Trade School), even though the proposal was made by such notables as Lau Chu Pak, Chow Shou-son (both members of the Legislative Council), Fung Ping Shan, Lee Yau Chuen, Sir Robert Ho Tung and R.H. Kotewall �X on the grounds that Hong Kong could not be expected to provide such an institution for the whole of South China.
A Commission was appointed to enquire into 'the conditions of the industrial employment of children' on 24 March. The Commission re-ported on 24 October, the majority recommending, inter alia, that no child under the age of eleven should be employed in any factory, that no child under the age of thirteen should be engaged in any form of casual labour, that the responsibility for proving a child's age should rest with the employer, that the hours of work for children should not exceed fifty-four per week and not include the hours between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m., and that Inspectors be appointed for all classes of child labour. The proposal by one member to introduce compulsory education was not supported by E.A. Irving, the Director of Education, on the grounds that 'the first point to be considered is the money'.10
The Grant system was largely abandoned (with the exception of five schools under European management and with specially recruited expa-triate staff) and replaced by a system of monthly subsidies, mainly for the smaller Vernacular schools, subject to the reports of inspectors.
1922: A Vernacular Sub-committee of the Board of Education was appointed. Government subsidies to Vernacular schools were increased (3 times the 1921 level). A model syllabus was drawn up for grant and subsidized vernacular schools. A meeting between Halifax and Messrs. R.H. Kotewall, Fung Ping Shan and Lee Yau Chuen reached agreement over adopting a residential qualification for potential pupils of the proposed industrial school, but further progress was delayed by political, social and financial problems (especially the strike led by seamen in 1922 and the 1925 Strike and Boycott). The Rockefeller Foundation endowed three chairs at the University of
10. For further details, see Evidence 4 below.
Hong Kong by providing an endowment grant of $500,000: the new chairs were of Medicine, Surgery and Obstetrics.
1923: At the meeting of the Board of Education on 18 January, the following resolutions were passed (and subsequently implemented by the Educa-tion Department): That a Kindergarten School for [British] children between the ages of 5 and 9 be established, on the most modern methods, with specially trained Kindergarten teachers, at Quarry Bay. That the education of British children over the age of 9 be centred in one school and that children over 9 shall not be.admitted into any other Government British School. That the parents be invited to cooperate especially in the matter of regular attendance of children.' At the 11 April meeting of the Board of Education, the following resolution was passed: 'That with a view to increasing the utility of the Board of Education the Government be asked to 'authorize the Board to visit in its official capacity, the educational establishments of the Colony, and, if the neces-sity arises, to report thereon', with the proviso That such visits should be conducted by not more than three members of the Board at one time, one of whom should be an Inspector of Schools, and that the Inspectors of Schools should notify members of the Board of their intention to visit schools and to invite their attendance/ As a consequence of this resolution, the following addition was made to the Grant Code: 'The Director is empowered to visit Grant Schools at any time during Code hours without notice. Members of the Board of Education are simi-larly empowered when accompanied by the Director. At the same meeting, the Board resolved to meet monthly in future. At its meeting on 5 September, the Board resolved, on the advice of a sub-committee especially appointed to consider the matter, that Portu-guese should be taught in the Belilios Public School as an experiment. This resolution was duly put into effect. The foundation stone of a new Government Boys' school (to be called King's College) was laid. The Ordinance protecting young children employed in industry was passed.
1924: The Kowloon Wah Yan College was opened by Mr Peter Tsui in Portland Street, with two classes of twenty-four boys. Mr E.A. Irving, the first Director of Education, retired and was suc-ceeded by Mr G.N. Orme who held office for little more than a year.11
11. Orme was invalided from the Government service in December 1925 and replaced by Mr A.E. Wood.
The Annual Education Department Report for 1924 (actually published in 1925) outlined policy and priorities and, in this way, was different from and much more informative than the last several Reports produced by Orme's predecessor.12
1925: Maryknoll Convent school opened its first (kindergarten) classes.
The May 30th Tragedy713 took place in Shanghai. This intensified the unpopularity of British in Hong Kong and led to the General Strike and Boycott. On Thursday 18 June, about 80% of the senior boys from Queen's College absented themselves from lessons. Pupils from other schools fol-lowed this lead in the next few days. Some schools closed temporarily; others operated with a reduced intake. A Strike, beginning with the House-boys' Union and the Tram-workers', was organized largely by the Labour Federation in Canton. By 22 June, the South China Morning Post reported that the strike was 'pretty general'. To this strike, the Canton authorities added a call for the boycott of British goods. A state of emergency was declared in Hong Kong, during which, for part of the time, the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps was mobilized and local Chinese loyal to the Hong Kong Government helped run essential services. Boy scouts, for example, acted as messengers for the Telegraph Offices. When schools re-opened on 7 September, the enrolment was reduced by about 50%.
12.
See Evidence 10 below, for extracts from the 1924 Report.
13.
On 30 May 1925, a crowd mainly of Chinese students who were demonstrating near the International Settlement in Shanghai because of the murder of a Chinese labourer working in a Japanese cotton mill in the Foreign Settlement was fired upon by a detachment of British-officered police. A British Inspector of Police, Edward W. Everson, directed the crowd to leave and, when they instead advanced on the police station, Everson ordered his men to open fire. The shooting resulted in seven deaths and a large number of wounded. It also led to an upsurge of anti-British feeling throughout China. This was not allayed by the attitude of British officials who defended the action of the police as consistent with their legal powers to use arms as a last resort and who attempted to refute communist allegations that the police had fired upon peaceful students. The British ambassador, for example, wrote that 'the action of the police was fully justified by the events with which they had to deal...' The attitude of the British Government and British officials was that, although they did not like and wished to avoid violence, if the situation warranted it, they would resort to force again. This attitude was soon put to test by events. On 23 June 1925, a huge demon-stration was held with the aim of taking over the Shameen concession in Canton as a protest against the police action in Shanghai. All European reports of the incident claim that shots were first fired from the Chinese side and that the forces guarding the British and French concessions then fired back. More than fifty Chinese were killed and over double that number wounded. The British Consul-General at Canton had no doubts that the Chinese were responsible for the shooting and blamed Comintern advisers from the Soviet Union for provoking the riot. The Shameen incident led directly to a widespread boycott move-ment against British goods throughout southern China. This affected all major ports and, especially, the British colony of Hong Kong, where, as will be seen, school pupils took a leading part in the organization of a 'Strike and Boycott' which lasted until October 1926.
The Government Tai Po Vernacular Normal School was opened. A Medical Officer of Schools, Dr E.M. Minett (a woman doctor) was appointed.
1926: The policy (announced in the Annual Education Report of 1924) of limiting class-size in Government schools to thirty, while permitting larger num-bers in Grant, Subsidized and Private schools, was implemented; the im-plementation was facilitated by the marked reduction in numbers, espe-cially at Government schools, caused by the 1925 Strike and Boycott.
The Government Vernacular Middle School (later renamed Clementi Middle School) was founded, including a TSIormal Division' and a 'Higher Primary Division', and absorbing the Government Vernacular Normal School for Men, as well as the Confucian Middle School.
Several private schools also opened Middle School classes during the year. Munsang College was established in rented premises at Kaitak Bund to cater for children living in Kowloon City. The first boys were enrolled into King's College in September.
1927: In January, King's College commenced as a secondary school, with mainly pupils transferred from the old Saiyingpun District School. The Vernacular Normal School for Women was extended to include a third year.
The Maryknoll Sisters founded a school, then known as Holy Spirit School, in Robinson Road. This can be treated as the direct ancestor-institution of the Maryknoll Sisters' School and Marymount Primary and Secondary Schools.
1928: The Overseas Chinese Education Committee was established in February under the Ministry of Education in China and issued its first regulations for the registration of overseas schools.14
14. These regulations were amended in 1929 and again in 1934. In June 1929, the Chi Nan University, which was established to promote overseas Chinese education, convened a Nan Yang Education Conference. This was attended by 78 representatives from Southeast Asia, including representatives from the British, French, Dutch and American colonies in the region. Another Overseas Chinese Conference was organized by the Central Training Department of the Kuomintang in November. The three main factors which help to explain the increasing attention paid by the Chinese Government to overseas Chinese affairs, especially education, at this time are (a) rivalry with Japan in Southeast Asia; (b) concern about anti-Chinese movements in the region; and, (c) anxiety about the spread of Commu-nism. See T.C Cheng, The Education of Overseas Chinese . . .', pp. 234-62. See also the Chronicle for 1931 and 1932 below, as well as Evidence 15 and f.n. 14. As this evidence suggests, although Education Department officials in Hong Kong occasionally made claims to the contrary, the registration of Hong Kong schools with the Overseas Chinese Education Committee and, later, the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission, had implications for the curricula followed in those schools.
The new school structure (operating since 1921 in parts of China) was introduced into some schools in Hong Kong, based on the American 6-3-3 plan (i.e. six years primary schooling, followed by three years in junior secondary school and then three years in senior secondary school).
The School of Chinese Studies opened at the University of Hong
Kong. King's College was officially opened. The Wong Ngai Chung Moong Yeung School, a charity school for
poor Chinese pupils, was founded by a merchant group headed by Mr Luk Cheuk Man. It was later taken over by the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals.
1929: A contunittee was appointed 'to draw up a syllabus which all private schools must follow7, ostensibly 'to make the standard of the vernacular schools uniform', but also to control Kuomintang influences and text-books in Hong Kong schools.15 It should be noted that in 1929 the Sin-gapore authorities actually forbade the teaching of San Min Chu I in Chinese schools. A Physical Training class for teachers was started at the Technical Institute. An Overseas Education Planning Committee was appointed under the aegis of the Ministry of Education in China. The Fung Ping Shan Library was built and endowed at the University of Hong Kong. The Advisory Committee on Education in the Colonies was estab-lished in Britain to advise the Secretary of State for the Colonies on all matters pertaining to colonial education. The ACEC examined the annual Reports of Colonial Directors of Education, often critically, and attempted to establish a coherent policy which could be applied to all colonies and which would not generate criticism from such foreign powers as the United States of America.
1930: A committee was appointed 'to examine the Chinese syllabus for English
[i.e. Anglo-Chinese] schools with a view to the revision thereof. It recom-mended more practical knowledge of the Chinese written language, more up-to-day books, less teaching of the Classics and Chinese History �X based on the assumption that pupils already had four years of preliminary Chinese education before entering the Anglo-Chinese schools.
15. The Annual Report of the Inspector of Vernacular Schools for 1935 includes: The change of the educational system in China during the past two decades has produced a different type of teachers and all registered schools in the Colony are now able to adopt the Model Syllabus which was approved by the Board of Education in 1929... the present syllabus, a compromise between our own and the one adopted by the Chinese Government in 1925, has proved to be adaptable to the constant changes of educational policy in China.'
In the Education Department Annual Report, the Inspector of Ver-
nacular Schools commented that: '. . . educational reforms have been
going on in all parts of China, and Hong Kong appears to have become the
most congenial centre of the older element and at the same time we have a
new type of teacher whose knowledge of the classics is less profound but
whose general education is somewhat better. The result of all this is that
even the old scholars are now making an effort to run their schools on
modern lines...'
It was announced that Hong Kong University Senior and Junior Local Examinations were to be substituted by a School Certificate Examination in Class 1 (the senior secondary class).
A committee was appointed to report on the possibility of increasing facilities for practical technical education and on the feasibility of estab-lishing a trade school. (N.B. the influence of the Depression.)
The foundation stone of La Salle College was laid on 5 November. The Po Kok School, the first free school for girls, was founded by Lady Clara Ho Tung.
1931: A new set of regulations was issued by the Overseas Chinese Education Committee. These included measures to encourage the teaching of Man-darin (Kwok Yu) and other efforts to exclude Communist influence from schools. On 2 April a 'Free Night School' was established by members of the Hong Kong University Education Society, initially with 20 boys enrolled. The University of Hong Kong's Education Journal commented: 'Professor
L. Forster's advocacy of free education materialized in the form of a free night school managed and financed by the Education Society. This is an outstanding event in the history not only of the Society but also of the University as it is the undergraduates' first attempt to come into contact with the poor of the Colony.'16
The Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission was established in Nank-ing on 7 December, partly as a recognition of the need for a more compre-hensive and effective policy towards the overseas Chinese to elicit sup-port from them, a recognition which was especially keen after the Japa-nese attack on Manchuria in September.
The Hong Kong Committee on Practical Technical Education recom-mended that a Junior Technical School should be established as an experi-mental measure and suggested that the Principal of this proposed new school should also serve as the adviser to the Director of Education on all matters connected with the education of industrial workers.
1932: The building of La Salle College was completed in January. By the end of the year, 805 pupils had enrolled, half of them Catholics.
16. Education Journal (University of Hong Kong) (December 1931), p. 133.
A Sub-committee of the Board of Education produced new Hygiene Regulations for schools (up-dating the Regulations of 1914). Thorough training in Hygiene was to be given to teachers at the Technical Institute classes, as well as instruction to women teachers of vernacular schools in Physical Training.
The Headmistress of Belilios Public School, the leading Government Girls' School, was pleased to note that Physical Education was growing in favour �X girls were reported as even prepared to wear shorts for P.E. lessons.
Officials were sent abroad by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commis-sion of the Chinese Government. According to T.C. Cheng, they probably visited Hong Kong because ever since this year the number of Hong Kong schools registered with the O.C.A.C. grew noticeably.17
The Board of Education recommended the abolition of the Junior and Senior Oxford Locals and their replacement by a School Leaving Certifi-cate Examination which would cater for the non-academic pupils and be divorced from matriculation requirements.18
1933: The Junior Technical School (later Victoria Technical School) opened pro-viding a course for the pre-apprenticeship training of artisans. There were 11 applicants for every single place. Mandarin (Kwok Yu) was added to the curriculum of the Government Vernacular Middle School and the Vernacular Normal School for Women. From the Editorial Notes of the Hong Kong University Education Journal: 'Really, when we are faced with the ever increasing number of Chinese students who have failed in their own language in the Matricula-tion Examinations held by this University during the past few years, we cannot help reflecting seriously upon the disappointing condition of Chi-nese studies in this Colony.' Pui Ching Middle School (Hong Kong) was opened. The City Hall was demolished.
17.
T.C. Cheng, The Education of Overseas Chinese ...', p. 298.
18.
This recommendation was approved and the new examination, conducted by the University of Hong Kong, was first held in June 1935. The examination was not, however, generally recognized to be an improvement and the result was that in June 1937 the Hong Kong School Certificate Examination, controlled by a Syndicate of Headmasters and offi-cials from the Education Department, was established. This examination was taken by pupils in Class 2. Its purpose was to test the candidates' ability to enter general employ-ment, most commonly in business or in the civil service. With regard to the latter, the Government was persuaded to appoint clerks on the basis of this examination, instead of insisting upon a separate examination. Those pupils who were considered suitable for an academic career proceeded to Class 1 where they sat the Matriculation examination con-ducted by the University.
1934: A scheme for the inauguration of a system of technical education was drawn up by Mr G. White, the newly appointed supervisor of technical education. Progress was reported in girls' education and rural education (e.g., enough for the Governor to offer a Challenge Cup for School Gardening in 1935). The Hong Kong Teachers' Association was founded. After receiving critical comments from the Advisory Committee on Education in the Colonies (ACEC) about the latest Annual Report of the Director of Education, the Secretary of State for the Colonies decided to invite 'some well-qualified person who is experienced in educational organization in this country and overseas to visit Hong Kong and make a report on the whole question [of the educational system of Hong Kong, especially in the context of change and development in China].. .'19
1935: Aberdeen Trade School was established. The Hong Kong True Light Primary School was set up in Caine Road. Edmund Burney, one of His Majesty's Inspectors of Schools in the
United Kingdom and soon to become a prominent member of the Advi-
sory Committee on Education in the Colonies, visited Hong Kong early in
the year to report on the state of public education.
THE BURNEY REPORT
Summary:
Vernacular Education:
The very small proportion of the Government's expenditure on edu-cation which was devoted to primary education in Chinese was not satis-factory 'for the reason among others that, broadly speaking primary edu-cation is all that the poorer Chinese can afford, and the Government is therefore giving least help to those who are least able to help themselves'. He recommended that 'Government should assume as soon as possible larger responsibilities in primary education, and the best way of doing this would be to build, as a start, two or three large primary schools in the city of Victoria, staff them only with fully trained teachers, inspect them properly, and thus make them fit to serve as models for schools conducted by private enterprise ... An overhaul and speeding up of vernacular edu-cation in Hong Kong would give the British schools [i.e., the Anglo-
19. Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister to Sir William Peel, Governor of Hong Kong, Confidential, 11 July 1934. See also Evidence 16 below and note that the initiative for the visit (and, therefore, for the eventual Burney Report) came from Britain not from Hong Kong.
Chinese schools] a much better start than they have now. The method of selecting entrants to English schools, from the usually large numbers of candidates should be reviewed in the light of educational practice else-where .. . The use of carefully-planned intelligence tests, which the Ver-nacular Inspectorate might be asked to draw up, would probably improve matters...'
English Education
As the motive had seemed to be utilitarian and vocational, he recom-mended that 'the teaching of English in the schools of Hong Kong should be reformed on a frankly utilitarian basis, i.e., the pupils should be taught to understand, speak, read and write such and so much English as they are likely to need for their subsequent careers and no more... This should set free a certain amount of time. It will have to be very carefully consid-ered:
(1)
whether that time should be given in part or wholly to further instruc-tion in the Chinese language or through the medium of that language;
(2)
how much instruction should be given, to pupils who are believed for the most part not to want it, in the Chinese classics;
(3)
whether the Chinese medium of instruction should be Cantonese, or Kwok Yu, which the Government of China wishes to establish as the universal spoken language throughout China ...
'Education policy in the Colony should be gradually reorientated so as eventually to secure for the pupils, first, a command of their own language sufficient for all needs of thought and expression, and secondly, a command of English limited to the satisfaction of vocational demands . . .' Burney therefore recommended that the course leading up to the School Certificate should be planned as something complete in itself, and not chiefly as a stage on the way to Matriculation, and that this examination should be taken in Class 2, not as it then was, in Class 1. The curriculum in Government and Grant schools should be so widened as to provide rather more liberally than at present for the broad human needs of the pupils. More attention should be paid to their health and adequate allowance should be made in the time-tables for physical education, and other activities such as music, manual instruction, arts and crafts, and organized games.'
Rural Education
The curriculum of the schools was sometimes ill-suited to the needs of the pupils �X e.g., the Government School at Un Long gave the children a 3-year English course. 'About half of them, perhaps, continue their educa-tion in other schools. The other half return to the villages to which they belong, and become engaged, like their ancestors before them for many
generations, in the work of tilling the soil... It is difficult to imagine of what use their smattering of English can be to them, though most of the time in this school will have been given to its acquisition.' The curriculum of the rural schools should, therefore, be better related to the environment of most of the pupils.
Technical Education
Here, Burney accepted the force of arguments in favour of trying to help China (c.f. the Central School and the University of Hong Kong). There are two things which China needs more than anything else, at any rate in most of her provinces; namely, honest administration and a higher standard of living for the masses of the people. If Hong Kong can contrib-ute anything, by example and by education, towards these two needs, then the Chinese will have no reason to regard the existence of a British Colony in what may be called their Isle of Wight as anything but a blessing/
Appointment of Director of Education
According to Burney, Hong Kong badly needed effective educational leadership and a clearly understood policy pursued for a reasonable length of time. Burney criticized the use of 'cadet-officers', frequently transferred and often ignorant of education as heads of the Education Department, and recommended 'that the vacant post of Senior Inspector of English Schools should be filled by the best possible candidate obtainable from outside the Colony, and that the new Inspector thus appointed shall, as soon as he has had time to understand the education situation, be made Director of Education.' N.B. Burney's comment: 'The Colony's educational system needs more than anything else a breath of fresh air from outside.'
Other Recommendations Included:
(1)
that necessary arrangements be made for securing teachers competent to provide instruction in Physical Training;
(2)
that, eventually, a new Government Normal School, or considerable additions to present premises, would be necessary;
(3)
that there should be a Health Code for private schools, with a time-limit for compliance.
1936: The first step was taken in September in the conversion of the Un [Yuen] Long Government Rural School from an English to a Higher Primary Vernacular School. By 1938, this process was complete and the Un Long Government Rural School was the only Government Primary Vernacular School with English as a second language.
The foundation stones of the new Maryknoll Convent School (June) and the Hip Yan [Heep Yunn] School (September) were laid by the Gover-nor and, in November, he presided at the celebrations to mark the comple-tion of the building of St. Mary's (Canossian) College, Kowloon.
In order to implement one of Burners recommendations, arrange-ments were made for a School Certificate Examination, to be taken at Class 2, under the control of the Education Department. After an overlap of one year, this was planned to take the place of the existing School Certificate Examination, conducted by the University of Hong Kong, at Class 1 level.
1937: The School Certificate Examination (under the control of a Syndicate and the Education Department) was inaugurated in Class 2. Class 1 became the Matriculation class.
A qualified Physical Training instructor was appointed from the United Kingdom to work full-time for the Education Department. Provision for Physical Training classes in schools was made a condi-tion for a Government grant. Classes were organized for men and women Physical Training in-structors.
Mr C.G. Sollis (a qualified educationalist then in Singapore) was ap-pointed Senior Inspector of Schools. He was later to become Director of Education.
The Government Trade School opened, with departments of wireless telegraphy, building construction, and a course in motor-car mechanics. This Trade School was later re-named the Hong Kong Technical College, and still later, was upgraded to the Hong Kong Polytechnic).
The Technical Institute was re-named the Evening Institute.
The report of the University (1937) Committee was very critical of conditions and standards at Hong Kong University: We cannot but think that financially the University has in the past existed far too much from hand to mouth .. /20
1938: The Hong Kong School Certificate syllabus was revised (e.g. Latin was excluded). A New Subsidy Code was established to promote vernacular educa-tion at the primary level. One of the clauses �X 2(viii) �X of this new Code explicitly excluded from the possibility of receiving a Hong Kong Govern-ment subsidy those schools which received grants from the Chinese Gov-ernment. The number of government scholarships for needy pupils in Govern-ment and Grant schools was increased.
20. See also Evidence 20 below.
A Committee was appointed to report on the teacher training syllabus in operation at Hong Kong University and the normal classes held in connection with the Evening Institute and to make recommendations in relation to either or both systems. It was also to review the policy of appointing teachers from the United Kingdom and from Hong Kong to schools in the colony, and 'to review the present system of recruitment and training of teachers for the vernacular schools in the Colony7. The Committee, under the chairmanship of Mr Justice Lindsell recommended that: Tor the training of potential Anglo-Chinese teachers at Hong Kong University, students should take the ordinary course (at present a 4-year course) for an Arts Degree, to be followed by a year's post-graduate course for a diploma in teaching, this being in accordance with the resolution of the Faculty of Arts, the Senate and the Council of the Hong Kong University [subsequent to criticism contained in the University (1937) Report]/
The Government should take immediate steps to provide a new centre or centres in the Colony for the training of men and women teach-ers, both Anglo-Chinese and Vernacular; and also a training centre or centres for men and women rural teachers in the New Territories/
1939: The new Government Training College opened in temporary premises. (It moved to its own buildings in 1940 and was named Northcote Training College after the departing Governor). An experiment was begun of using Cantonese as the medium of instruction for subjects other than English in some of the lower classes of Anglo-Chinese schools. Intelligence Tests (plus tests in Chinese and Arithmetic) were intro-duced into Class 8 entrance examinations21 of the Government Anglo-Chinese schools. Handwork, art and singing were introduced in schools, as far as staff was available. Classes for the training of teachers in handwork and art were commenced. Physical Education became part of the compulsory course at the Train-ing College. In May, the Hong Kong University Development Committee pro-duced its report, revealing its support for the broader view of the Univer-sity's aims and declaring that 'the higher education of the inhabitants of the Colony of Hong Kong would not alone have justified the establish-ment of the University'. The University should aim to 'be useful not only to the Colony but to the Chinese people, to students from the interior of China as well as to those from Malaya and the East Indies'. During the committee's hearings, emphasis was placed on the contribution Hong Kong University could make to the development of China in the fields of
21. Class 8, according to the older terminology, was equivalent to today's Primary 5 Qass.
Science and Engineering. One of the Committee's basic conclusions was that, 'this University should fit into a general scheme of Chinese univer-sity development7.22
The physical history records of pupils began to be kept. It was in-tended that from these records a series of standards for the children of Hong Kong would be developed.
In the summer months, it was arranged that all pupils in Government schools should receive one and a half hours' swimming practice weekly. Half the cost of transport was borne by the Government.
A Correspondence Course for teachers who were working in 'over-seas Chinese' communities was organized from Chungking.
Mr C.G. Sollis, who had earlier joined the Education Department from Malaya as Senior Inspector shortly after the publication of the Burney Report, was appointed Director of Education. This was the first time that a professional educationalist was made substantive Director of Education in Hong Kong.23
1940: The Education Ordinance was revised, prescribing a more rigorous stan-dard of sanitation and hygiene and laying down minimum qualifications for teachers of English.
A new Grant Code was drawn up, whereby the existing capitation grant would be replaced by one based on the difference between ap-proved income (fees) and approved expenditure. This stimulated consid-erable opposition from existing Protestant and Catholic Grant Schools which formed themselves into a Grant Schools Council.
22.
See Brian Harrison (ed.), University of Hong Kong: The First 50 Years . . . , pp. 55-56; Bernard Mellor, The University of Hong Kong: An Informal History, pp. 91-95; and, of course, the Report itself, which is easily available in, for example, the Library of the University of Hong Kong.
23.
As Burney had critically pointed out, the earlier practice had been to appoint a Cadet officer, i.e. a generalist with no special knowledge or experience of education. Edwin Ralphs, who had formerly taught at Queen's College and later was Inspector of Schools, had acted as Director in 1930 and had been succeeded by another old Queen's College master, Mr G.P. de Martin (although only an Acting Director, Mr de Martin held office for three years). The two substantive Directors of the 'thirties were N.L. Smith (1933-34), who was to rise to the rank of Secretary for Chinese Affairs and Colonial Secretary in Hong Kong and G.R. Sayer (1934-39), the local historian, who was the immediate cause of Burney7 s ire. See also Evidence 17.
According to Gwynneth Stokes, quoting W.L. Handyside, 'Mr. Sollis immediately set himself to learn Chinese, visited all schools, went out of his way to get to know the members of the [Education] Department and supported whole-heartedly the Teachers' Association. The whole tone of the Department changed for the better after his appoint-ment.' (Gwynneth Stokes, Queen's College 1862-1962, p. 142n.) Sollis also set to work imme-diately to prepare a Five Year Plan, which entailed the building of 50 new Government vernacular primary schools. See Chronicle for 1941 below.
Six schools benefited from visual aids (including films), hired locally
by the Hong Kong Teachers' Association. Munsang College moved into its new building. The first year of the correspondence course for overseas Chinese
teachers, organized from Chungking, began in July with 182 teachers enrolled in Hong Kong.
The famous White Paper on the welfare and development of the British colonies (Cmd. 6175) was published in February, having been presented to Parliament on 20 February. Consequently, Parliament passed the first Colonial Development and Welfare Act. This Act provided funds for various projects, including the support of educational services in the colonies. Although wartime exigencies hindered immediate implementa-tion of CD&W schemes, the Act itself is a clear indication of the changing attitudes in British Government circles towards the colonies, marking a much more enthusiastic acceptance of responsibility for welfare and de-velopment of colonial societies and governments. The new outlook was at least partly a recognition of the assistance which Britain was receiving from the colonies towards the war effort and, perhaps, partly a response to anti-British propaganda which emphasized the exploitative nature of British colonialistic policies.
1941: War-time Rhodes Studentships were extended to Hong Kong students. One of the two first recipients was Rayson Huang, later Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong. A new Subsidy Code was announced, along with plans for building 50 new Vernacular Primary schools. 8 December: at 8.00 a.m., simultaneously with the attack on Pearl Harbour, the Japanese launched their invasion of Hong Kong. The first action was an air-raid on Kai Tak airfield and, soon, Japanese troops began crossing the Shum Chun River to advance into the New Territories. This led to heavy fighting, first on the mainland and then, from 18 Decem-ber, on Hong Kong island. 25 December: Hong Kong surrendered to the Japanese.
EVIDENCE
1. E.A. Irving, The Educational System of Hong Kong (Hong Kong: Hong Kong Government Printer, 1914), pp. 8-13 (Illus. 5.1).
Irving's 1914 publication is basically a rehash of his contribution to the 1911 Imperial Education Conference in London on Educational Systems of the Chief Colonies not pos-sessing Responsible Government. The Conference Papers were published by H.M.S.O. in 1915 and the extract below offers a clear indication of Irving''s opinions and priorities.
Iii dealing with the Chinese population it may be well to be rid at once of the boat population. These live, marry, and die in the thousand sea-going junks and slipper-shaped boats called sampans so characteristic of the Hongkong harbour. I have classified them as " Rural," because they have the characteristic of permanence. At any rate they are not townspeople. Veiy little is known about them. They have big families, as the figures show, and no education, unless it is education which teaches a child of ten how to gybe a crank, round-bottomed craft in a gale. A few of their grubby urchins may attend the Vernacular Schools intermittently for a year or two. It should be understood that these people are a class apart from the other Chinese. The educational scheme of the Colony is open to them, but has not caught them hitherto.
Some description of the Chinese Rural Population proper has already been given. They are, fishers and farmers alike, hard-working, ignorant, narrow, and superstitious, as may well be imagined. What is more surprising is their desire for education and the respect in which they hold it. Of the schools which they have developed unaided, as well as of the assistance they receive from the Government, a description is given here-after.
There remains for consideration the most important section of the community, the Chinese Urban Population of all sorts and conditions, merchants, clerks, shopkeepers, and skilled and casual ' labour. To the number of 270,000 and upwards it has been attracted to our shores in the last 70 years by opportunities of business and its appreciation of security, but in the main not as to a home, but as a miner to his camp, a place where gold is won to be enjoyed elsewhere. The average urban Chinese never regards Hongkong in any other light: he returns to his village every festival day of his life, and if he dies here retires thither for burial. This does not prevent him from establishing domestic ties with us ; but the proportion of children to adults, as already shown, is little more than one-half what it is in the case of his compatriots of the rural and boat populations. The inference is fairly clear that half his wives and children are absent in China.
EDUCATIONAL POLICY.
It will next be convenient to explain briefly the policy adopted with reference to the education of each of these sections of the population before describing the schools and other educa-tional institutions which are the embodiment of that policy.
Illus. 5.1 An extract from E.A. Irving, The Education System of Hong Kong,
English children born in the tropics have the same right to a wholesome education as have their happier home-born brothers, though the circumstances of climate and tropical environment must in any case weigh heavily against them. In the words of the Committee of Education of 1901: "It is " undesirable that they should in their most impressionable " years be associated with the children of alien beliefs and " other ethical standards." It is particularly undesirable that they should get an insight into mixed and illegitimate estab-lishments. Further, it is not possible to yoke young English children, who have a knowledge of their own speech but of little else, with much older children who know a great deal else, and wish to begin the study of English.
It is upon these considerations that the British Schools were founded. It is believed that these schools are pioneers in the history of education of the Empire. The Government realises the justice of making the ratepayers contribute as little as possible towards the cost of this special class of schools, and the fees are therefore put as high as the parents can afford.
These schools are conducted on a Protestant-Christian basis and are visited by the clergy of the Anglican and Union Churches.
The obligation to supply a good education to our Indian fellow-subjects is strongly felt A small school under Indian masters has long been maintained for their exclusive use, and a still smaller one was recently opened at Kowloon. They act as feeders to the District Schools and Queen's College, where the Indian boys hold their own without much difficulty among the ablest Chinese. No particular description of these schools is needed.
The establishment of a superior school for Indians is under contemplation. Scholastically speaking, the difficulty of com-bining the education of Chinese and Indians is that while each class needs to learn its own written language (Urdu in the case of Indians), Chinese is by far the more exacting and lengthy study.
Indigenous, yet of alien nationality, domiciled half here,
half in Macao, it might be hard to establish the precise
educational claim of the Portuguese. Fortunately the question
does not arise. Their schooling is amply supplied by the
various Roman Catholic Missions, as will be described later.
In any case the demand for a good supply of educated Portu-
guese to fill clerkships, especially the higher ones, would have
to be satisfied.
The case of the boat population is this. They are indige-
nous. which gives them a moral claim to education. On the
Illus. 5.1 (Continued)
other hand, they have no natural desire for it. The alternative
seems to lie between compulsory education with its vast
attendant difficulties in Hongkong, and the policy of masterly ^inactivity which the Education Department has hitherto
adopted.
Until 1913 hardly anything was done for the rural popu-
lation except the establishment by the Missions of one or two
Vernacular Grant Schools. Three small Government Schools
where English is taught are also maintained in the New Terri-
tories ; but they are of little importance, and not worth a
detailed description. An indigenous population and one with
a deep respect for education, the New Territories have urgent
claims, and the obligation of the Government to meet them is
heavy. That so little has hitherto been done is due to two
causes�Xlack of funds and the preponderant need during the
past 12 years of establishing a sound secondary system of
education in Hongkong. The beginning of an elaborate system
has been made, under which the best private schools in the
New Territories are to be encouraged by small subsidies. This
system is described below.
But the main educational problem attaches to the Urban
Chinese. It has been shown how they all, with the partial
exception of the poorest, are bound to the Colony by the easiest
of connections. This ephemeral quality of merchant or shop-
keeper very greatly relieves the sense of responsibility with
which an educator must regard him. There need be no talk
of free, much less of compulsory, education. The Chinese, as
a rule, comes here for Avhat he can make ; so we must educate
his sons for what we can make of them. How much is that ?
Since Chinese is so difficult a language that it is only
studied by Government Officials, Missionaries, and Sikh police-
men, English must be the general medium of communication.
Thus at the very outset we are committed to the establishment
of English Schools for Chinese, not as a moral obligation but
as a commercial necessity. Such schools cannot be worked at
a lower rate than between $5 and $10 a month for each pupil.
But this is more than very many Chinese of the most desirable
classes can afford. It follows, if such schools are to be estab-
lished the ratepayers must share the cost, and, as a matter of
fact, they halve it. The great majority of the ratepayers being
Chinese, this really means that those of them who have no
children at school pay in part for those who have.
It has been objected that though local taxes are fairly spent
on the education of Chinese connected with the Colony, others
should be carefully excluded who come to Hongkong for that
education alone, and without any intention of making a lengthy
Illus. 5.1 (Continued)
settlement. In theory this position is reasonable; in practice nothing short of a Commission upon the antecedents of each applicant could arrive at the truth. And so it is necessary to console ourselves with the facts, first, that Chinese boys utterly unconnected with the place would hardly find their way here ; and secondly, that Chinese who have received a good English education and been impressed with the stamp of a Hongkong school, are an asset sooner or later to be realised, whether they settle down in China as merchants, or pass examinations and become members of the Chinese Civil Service.
This, and the insatiable demand among the Chinese to attend English Schools, makes the way very clear. No senti-mental feeling, for instance, need warp the judgment in carrying out the statesman-like advice of the Indian Education Commission of 1882.
" We think it generally desirable that even in primary " schools fees should be raised as far as is consistent with the " spread of education. * * * The whole educational fund " is inadequate to the supply of schools for every group of " villages, and those who enjoy the advantage of a school should " contribute towards its cost, so as to promote the establishment " of similar institutions elsewhere. But we do not overlook the " wants of the struggling poor, or of exceptionally backward " races and tracts."*
Some exception from this doctrine of expediency must be made in the case of the poorest classes. In the first place, cost of travel has somewhat relaxed their tie with the mainland. And then, because they are less aware of the value of education, the more need is there to give it them. Their requirements are very modest.
Another axiom on which our educational policy rests is that Chinese are not educated unless they possess a reasonable facility with their own written language. This has been the better opinion among both English and Chinese authorities for many years. Attempts have been made to blur the argu-ment by references to the controversy over the value of Latin or Greek. The cases are not parallel. A Chinese engineer will find himself in difficulties if he cannot read a specifica-tion when ten miles inland, or a doctor who cannot write a prescription.
Conveniently for the Department it is the habit of the better-
class Chinese to give their sons a few years' Chinese education
(usually in their own villages) before they bring them into our
* Report of the Indian Education Commission, Section 194. (Calcutta, Government Press, 1883.)
Illus. 5.1 (Continued)
sphere. It is thus only necessary to hold Chinese entrance examinations in the English Schools, and to maintain and improve this, so to speak, pre-natal knowledge. The great number of small Vernacular Schools in Hongkong both Missionary and Private are supported, on the contrary, by ttie poorer part of the Urban population, who do not desire an English education for their sons. Thus, broadly speaking, Hongkong is concerned with the English education of the wealthier of the Urban Chinese, and the Vernacular education of the poorer. Further reference will be made to an educational ladder making it possible for the sons of the very poorest to obtain a free education through the English Schools into the University.
Some description has now been given of the two main classes of the population which lie receptive to the hand of the educationist, the Urban and the Rural.
Of these the Urban Division falls naturally into three divisions. First, the English and Indians who, while alien to the Colony, are native to the Empire and claim their rights as such ; second, the Chinese Urban population, which has claims based less on a moral right than urgent expediency ; third, the Portuguese, who hold a position between the first two, being neither altogether residents of the Colony nor altogether alien to it. The education of the Urban population is by now fairly established.
The Rural population proper, although possessing great
claims, has hitherto received but little attention.
The Boat population which is classed with it drifts along contentedly ignorant, and unaware whether it is a loser by its ignorance or not.
Before describing the schools which have been provided to meet the wants of these classes, it will be well to introduce the Education Department, the Education Ordinance, and the Grant Code, by means of which all the schools of the Colony are co-ordinated and directed.
THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT.
The Head of the Education Department is the Director of Education. He is an officer of the Cadet Service of the Colony, from which the senior officials of the other Departments are also recruited. The appointment ranks as First Class. Under him are an Inspector of English Schools, an Inspector of Verna-cular Schools, and twro Chinese Sub-Inspectors, one for Hong-kong and one for the New Territories. The Inspectors are both English, and have hitherto been chosen from among the masters in Government Schools.
Illus. 5.1 (Continued)
367
The duties of the Director fall naturally within three divisions. He exercises a direct supervision over the Govern-ment Schools and Technical Institute, and is the official channel of communication between them and the Government. He exercises a control through the Education Ordinance over all the non-Government Schools. He recommends the Grants that should be paid to such of them as are included in the Grant list
The Government Schools are 15 in number. They have an average attendance of 2,274, with 30 Certificated and 130 Student and Passed Student Teachers and Pupil Teachers. It is convenient to state here that by far the greater part of the education of the English and Indian children of the Colony, and a great part of the education in English of the wealthier Chinese, is undertaken by the Government Schools.
Illus. 5.1 (Continued)
2. Plans for change.
Among the schemes to improve the educational system of Hong Kong in the period immediately following the enactment of the Education Ordinance, two relating to lan-guage in education merit special attention. One of these concerned the problem of finding and training local Chinese teachers of English. In a sense, this led to a very early form of 'earmarked provision' in tertiary education for what would later be known as 'manpower planning' considerations. The other involved Government attitudes towards the demand for an expansion of vernacular education, which, as the second extract below exemplifies, predated the May Fourth Movement. In Hong Kong Government eyes, vernacular educa-tion appeared to be specially connected with the 'very poorest class of people'.
Both proposals received the sanction of the Secretary of State for the Colonies.
(a) Sir Henry May to the Rt. Hon. Walter Long, M.P., Secretary of State for the Colonies, Despatch No. 181,6 June, 1917; in CO 129/442, p. 472 ff.
I have the honour to request your sanction for the following scheme, by which it is intended to make better provision for the supply of English-teaching Chinese masters.
2.
The matter has for some time been under the joint consideration of the Vice-Chancellor of the Hong Kong University and of the Director of Edu-cation, and the present proposals are the outcome.
3.
A similar conclusion has been reached by a Committee which I ap-pointed recently to consider the education given to Chinese boys in the light of criticisms made by Un-official Members when the Estimates were under consideration last year. The Committee's Report will be the subject of a separate despatch, but the following extract is here relevant:
The somewhat mechanical nature of the teaching given by the Chinese Masters and marked defects in their pronunciation and gen-eral education call for special treatment. We recommend that the Uni-versity be approached in order that a wide range of general studies may be available for Chinese who desire to become teachers of Eng-lish.
4.
The existing system was established in 1904. It provides a 3 years' course at Queen's College under the Normal Master, theoretic instruction being combined with actual teaching under supervision. The boys who compete for these pupil teacherships are of good stamp, and improvement is noticeable in the class of teachers who are being turned out by the Normal Class. These teachers after completing their 3 years' course must attend evening classes at the Technical Institute for at least another 3 years after which their education is considered complete. It is generally admitted that by these means a cheap and not inefficient type of Assistant master has been evolved. But there is also general agreement that the commercial interests of the Colony demand, even at some additional cost, an improvement in the education given to Chinese boys. This cannot be accomplished economically otherwise than by improving the education of the Chinese Masters.
5.
The following scheme has been drawn up by the Director of Education. It aims at sending 3 students (to be known as student teachers to distinguish them from the pupil teachers trained at Queen's College) annually to the University. The number of pupil teachers will be reduced from 20 to 15.
6.
The scheme is provisional. In 3 or 4 years it will be possible to decide whether the old or the new system, or a combination of both is best, and to act accordingly.
The scheme deals as a transitional measure with 3 young men who have already passed the University Matriculation Examination and have been serv-ing as pupil teachers. It is intended that they should enter the University next September and remain until they have, after 2 years, passed their Intermediate Arts Examination. Their services will soon be needed, so they cannot be spared to take the full course for a Degree.
7. In addition, it is proposed to send, in September 1918, and thereafter yearly, 3 students from Queen's College to the University. They will be se-lected by open competition from the boys who have passed their Matricula-tion Examination of the previous July. They will normally remain at the University for 4 years when they should take their degrees in Arts. Special lectures in Pedagogy and Normal Work will be provided; and in order to keep the students in touch with the schools, it is intended that they should teach therein for certain hours weekly, receiving in exchange salaries of $180 per annum. They would be bound to serve the Government as teachers for at least 2 years after taking their degree on an initial salary of $720 per annum (passed pupil teachers begin on $480. But there can be no finality about the scheme; for it may be found when the time comes that the proposed salary is no sufficient inducement. At any rate the scheme is certain to increase the costliness, and, it is hoped, the value of the Chinese Masters who teach English...
(b) 'Memorandum on Changes and Increases in the Estimates for 1920, signed by
E.A. Irving, Education Department, 7 March, 1919', in CO 129/454, p. 473 ff.
(p.
473) During the War little attempt or none has been made to adjust the expenditure on Education to meet the growing needs of the Colony. This is well recognized and I need only point to the fact that Expenditure on Educa-tion for the year 1917 was only 2.29% of the Expenditure of the Colony, the lowest ratio since 1904. Not only was the provision inadequate but, owing the the War, it was also impossible to acquire or maintain the Staff of English Teachers which the Estimates provided for ...
(p.
483-486) VIII FRESH EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS The Government Schools are almost exclusively for English and other 'foreign' children, for Chinese, and for Indians. English is taught in them all.
The Grant Schools serve Chinese, Eurasians, Portuguese, and any other nationalities that care to attend them. They mainly give instruction in English, but there are Vernacular Grant Schools where Chinese is the sole language.
The subsidized schools are Private Vernacular Schools in the New Territo-ries where an annual subsidy is given by the Government to each school.
Apart form these subsidized schools the only Vernacular schools which the Government aids are the 27 Grant Schools. They have an average atten-' dance of 1,600. The Government has since the Education Ordinance was passed, also inspected the numerous private schools of the Colony, which have greatly improved under the process.
There is, however, a strong demand among the Chinese for more Ver-nacular education for the very poorest class of people. I am of opinion that such provision cannot be conveniently made by the existing machinery. And new machinery must be sought.
It will not be desirable to create a large number of Government Vernacular schools. Such schools have been tried in times past, and have failed, for many reasons. A Government School has to be kept to a standard which need not be looked for in a Chinese controlled undertaking; and the cost on buildings, equipment and staff will be very great in proportion to the services rendered. Further European rigidity acts harshly on poor Chinese, and there are grave objections against employing persons of the stamp of teachers of such schools as Revenue collectors, while the fees collected would total a trifling sum.
The Grant Schools which are managed by the various Christian missions cannot, I think, be extended to cover the required schools. These Grant Schools receive a very small Grant from the Government ($3 to $5 per head per year).
They make both ends meet by charging very considerable fees. But the parents whom it is desired to aid are hardly in a position to pay any fees, perhaps 20 to 50 cents a month at the outside. The grants would have to be very largely increased, and even then there would be no security that the class of children whom it is intended to benefit, were really being benefited.
After careful consideration and consultation with the Secretary for Chinese Affairs and the Senior Chinese Member of the Council, I recommend that the body to be employed in developing the proposed new Vernacular Schools should be the Confucian Society, and that it should be aided in the following manner: The Confucian Society already manages about 20 schools. Owing the the smallness of the school fees charged, they are a great drain on the Society, which cannot extend its efforts very far on these terms, nor would the small grant offered to Vernacular Schools be a significant relief. I propose that a different system should be adopted. A lump sum of, say, $10,000 should be voted, and this should be disbursed to the Society at the end of the year upon the recommendation of the Director of Education that the schools are being properly conducted, and upon receipt of properly audited accounts showing that at least $20,000 has been expended by the Society on the schools. I am told by the Secretary for Chinese Affairs that there will be no difficulty in auditing the accounts. One of the advantages of this system will be that it will put the actual control of the schools into the hands of the Chinese of the District where they are situated, and will ensure local interest. In fact, the system approximates to that of the Tung Wah Branch Hospitals, which have been so successful.
3. Charles K. Edwards, 'Modern Education in China', Washington, Department of the Interior Bureau of Education, Bulletin 44 (1919), 40.
Western influence on education in and near China was certainly not monolithic. The extractfrom Edwards' article is only one samplefrom many possible of the rivalry, particu-larly keen in the post-First World War period, between British and American educational efforts.
The medical school of Hongkong University which is not on Chinese soil, charges very high fees and does not have a whole-time faculty, but is manned almost entirely by physicians whose chief concern is their private practice. These reasons, especially in view of the natural attitude of the Cantonese toward an institution wholly under British control and on British soil, make it extremely desirable to develop in Canton a medical school of the highest grade under joint missionary and Chinese auspices.
4. South China Morning Post, 2 December 1920, p. 3.
The news report, below, provides evidence about the attitudes and assumptions both of the leaders of the Tung Wah Hospital Group and of the Hong Kong Government.
Mr. Lee Wing-kwong, the Chairman of the Tung Wah Hospital Committee, said: Tour Excellency and gentlemen. Today is the day of the opening ceremony of the Chung Wah Shu Yuen, which has been well and truly constructed. The work has been expedited by the large grants generously made by the Government... The object of the rebuilding is to provide the free school with more accommodation for the poor Chinese boys of the Colony so that by improved education they may be enabled to earn their livelihood and avoid the consequences of poverty. Enquiries show that there is a large number of poor boys in the Colony who cannot afford an education. The free schools previously established by the Man Mo Temple and by the Confucian Society in the past ten years have been insufficient to meet this demand, and the attention of the Government has been repeatedly invited to this deficiency by the Chinese representatives on the Legislative Council. Realizing this, the professional and business communities have exerted their utmost efforts to develop the free schools so as to satisfy the desires of the Government in respect of education and to ensure that the greatest possible benefit should be derived from the kindness of the Kai Fongs in collecting funds for the purpose of education. The school has three storeys and has accommodation for several hundred students. In future, though we cannot give education to all poor boys of the Colony, we can admit several hundreds in addition to the old number.'
H.E. the Governor [Sir Reginald Edward Stubbs] replied: *Mr. Lee Wing-kwong and gentlemen. This is the second occasion within a few weeks on which I have had the privilege of being associated with an extension of the philanthropic activities of the Tung Wah Hospital Committee. On the previous occasion it was for the bodily needs of the Chinese Community that provision was being made; this time the provision is for their mental advantage. The Government has assisted in the building of the present school by means of a grant-in-aid and will always be ready to cooperate with the Chinese community in education work, but I am confident that the best result will be obtained if the matter is left as largely as possible in the hands of the Chinese community and their worthy representatives. In this connection, I should like to say a word of appreciation of the activities of the Confucian Society, which has now established twenty-four schools for the poorer classes, and is, I understand, preparing, with the assistance of a grant from the Government funds, to extend the scope of its work.
An interesting example of the cordial cooperation between the Tung Wah Hospital Committee and the Government may be seen in the school which I am opening today. The Committee has agreed to devote one floor of the building to the use of a normal school under the auspices of the Director of Education. This School will be of inestimable value in the training of teachers for vernacular schools.
One of the most difficult social problems of Hong Kong is the question of child labour. The employment of little children in work, frequently of too heavy a character for their years, and the continual appearance at the Police Courts of child hawkers, are features of the daily life of the Colony which no one can regard without regret. This employment of children is no doubt largely due to economic causes with which it is not easy to deal, but there is no doubt also that in many cases children are so employed because they cannot be left alone while their parents are at work. If the children can be sent to school this difficulty will be removed, and with the extension of facilities for free, or very cheap education, such as are pro-vided by the present school and of the Confucian Society's schools, to which I have already referred, I look forward with confidence to great improvement in this respect in the near future/
5. 'The Report of the Commission on the Industrial Employment of Children in Hong Kong, 1921' (Illus. 5.2).
As the concluding remarks of the preceding extract emphasize, the question of child labour was a pressing social problem in Hong Kong in this period. Largely because of the 'laissez-faire' attitudes of Hong Kong Government and the fact that substantial factory owners usually had either membership of or considerable influence on the Legislative Council, little had been done, even along the lines of British legislation, to regulate and control child labour. The extracts quoted below illustrate prevailing attitudes of the time to the problem in general. They also accentuate the difference between at least one missionary approach (Wells, in favour of compulsory education) and the Education Department (Irving's The first point to be considered is the money').
6. The British Consul-General at Canton, J.W. Jamieson, to Sir B. Alston, For-eign Office, 13 March 1922, in CO 129/477, p. 284.
This might be compared with Evidence 3,6,7,12, and 22 in this chapter to throw some light on Chinese and British attitudes capable of influencing educational provision.
.. . A barrister in Hong Kong, whose professional work has brought him into contact with these [subversive] elements ... stated that amongst the 'Hong Kong born', Eurasians and Chinese, there was growing up a feeling of resentment against the 'arrogance' of the British,24 and a deter-
24. See also Evidence 24 for a reference to arrogant attitudes by European teachers. There is also, perhaps, a trace of such an attitude in the following statement about an appointment to the Chair of Surgery at the University of Hong Kong made by Mr N. Teasedale Mackin-tosh, Registrar of the University, to the Colonial Secretary on 22 August 1922:'... In view of the fact that the Professor thus appointed will have to work in close cooperation with the authorities .at the Government Civil Hospital, it seems very desirable that the Professor appointed should be of British and not Oriental nationality/ (CO 129/475, p. 475). The reactions of the Chinese in Hong Kong to such attitudes varied between resentment (open or hidden) and obsequiousness.
raOCLAMATIOM
cR. E. STUBBS,
Governor.
Y His Excellency Sir RKIUNALD EDWARD STUBBS, Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Colony of Hongkong and its Dependencies and
Vice-Admiral of the same.
Whereas by the second section of the Commissioners Powers Ordinance, 1886, it is enacted that the Governor in Council shall have power to nominate and appoint Commissioners under the public seal for the purpose of instituting, making, and conducting any enquiry that may be deemed advisable and for reporting thereon:
And whereas the Governor-in-Council has deemed it advisable that an enquiry should be instituted, made, and conducted into the conditions of the industrial employment of children in Hongkong, and the desirability and feasibility of legislation for the regulation of such employment.
Now, I, Sir Reginald Edward Stubbs, Knight Commander of the Most distin-guished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Colony of Hongkong and its Dependencies, and Vice-Admiral of the same, with the advice and consent of the Executive Council, hereby appoint you:�X
The Honourable Mr. Stewart Buckle Carne Ross. Mr. Chow Shon Son.
Mr. Li Ping.
Dr. Charles William MeKenuy, M.D., B.CII., B.A.O. Miss Ada Mary Pitts. The Rev. Herbert Richmond Wells.
to be Commissioners for the purpose of instituting, making, and conducting such enquiry:
And I do also appoint you, the said Mr. Stewart Buckle Carne Ross, to be Chairman of the said Commissioners:
And I do also order and direct that for all or any of the purposes of the said
enquiry four Commissioners inclusive of the Chairman shall be and constitute a
quorum:
And I do further, with the advice and consent of the Executive Council, order and direct that the said Commissioners shall have all the powers, rights, and privileges set out in the third section of the said Ordinance:
And I do further require you, the said Commissioners, to report to me your findings in the matter of the said enquiry and your recommendations, at as early a date as possible.
Given under my hand and the Public Seal of the Colony at Victoria, Hong-kong, this 24th day of March, 1921.
By Command,
3d. CLAUD SEVERN,
Colonial Secretary.
COD SAVE THE KING. Illus. 5.2 'The Report of the Commission on the Industrial Employment of, Chil-dren in Hong Kong, 1921'.
BOMHIONU, 24th October, 1921.
SIR,�XWe, the Undersigned, appointed by virtue of the above proclamation, have the honour to submit the results of our enquiries into the industrial employ-ment of children in Hongkong, and our recommendations for the regulation of such employment.
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