A study of Lok Sin Tong free school (1925-1941) = Le Shan Tang yi xue jiao yu yan jiu (1925-1941)

Abstract

This dissertation constitutes a detailed investigation of the history of the Lok Sin Tong Free School. It discusses how benevolent societies expanded their service scope in Hong Kong, as well as how the reforms in the education system and teaching curriculum of mainland China affected those in Hong Kong in the 1930s. Lok Sin Tong, one of the most remarkable charitable organizations in pre-war Hong Kong, formally expanded into the education field in 1929 with the establishment of the Lok Sin Tong Free School. The School was located at 32 Dai Tit Street, and its aim was to provide free education to children from Kowloon City who had formerly been deprived of schooling. The School began accepting male applicants in 1930. The first principal was Tam Kit-Sang, and the second was Wong Bun-Po. The School offered primary education and a four-year curriculum focusing on Chinese education. By 1938, when a new campus was established, the School’s number of students exceeded 300. However, soon after the outbreak of the Pacific War and Japanese occupation of Hong Kong in December 1941, the School was forced to close its doors. This dissertation comprises six chapters. The first defines the term “free school” and reviews the history of research on the Lok Sin Tong Free School. The second chapter outlines the historical development of Kowloon City and the Kowloon Walled City prior to 1941, and discusses how the local Kowloon City culture was key to the reestablishment of Lok Sin Tong’s services in the late 1920s following a suspension of services early in the century. The third chapter traces the origins and narrates the development of Lok Sin Tong from 1880 to 1941, with an emphasis on the improvement in its services under the leadership of Tam Kit-Sang and Chan Cho-Chak. The fourth chapter investigates the Lok Sin Tong Free School between 1929 and 1941, with special attention paid to its size, the quality of its teachers, its administration, curriculum and pedagogy, and student performance. An evaluation of the School’s overall effectiveness on the basis of these criteria follows. The fifth chapter presents a comparative study of the teaching and learning activities of the Lok Sin Tong Free School and those of the (1) Long Jin Free School and (2) Tung Sin Tong Free School. This comparison reveals the transformation of and changes in Chinese education in Hong Kong. The last chapter concludes the dissertation with a discussion of the interactions among free schools, benevolent societies, and the local community and culture in Hong Kong.