Appendix H
Education in Hong Kong
There are three main types of school in Hong Kong: those run by the government, those operated by voluntary bodies and assisted financially by the government and those run and financed by private bodies or individuals. Schools which receive government assistance are again subdivided into three groups: grant-in-aid, subsidised and assisted private schools.
SECONDARY
Certificate of Education Courses
Anglo-Chinese grammar
(including English Schools):
No. of No. of Schools Students
No. of Students pursuing Matric. Courses
SCHOOL ENROLMENT
Kindergarten
Primary
Secondary
Total
KINDERGARTEN
137,117
696,987
389,298
1,223,402 representing about 30 per cent of Hong Kong's total population.
Admissions are from three to five years.
All kindergartens are privately operated. Non-profit-making kindergartens, run by voluntary institutions, are assisted by the government with either free or subsidised accommodation in public housing estates.
Kindergartens are registered with the Education Department and supervised by the department's inspectorate, which organises free in-service training courses for teachers.
Fees range from $10 to $100 a month.
Government
Aided ...
+4
Private
Night schools
Chinese middle:
Government
Aided ...
Private
Night schools
13
7,457
1,426
***
79
59,116
5,293
158
173,645
6,067
31
15,625
3,223
***
5
2,155
251
19
7,965
650
77
50,613
1,815
10
4,148
Secondary technical:
Government
Aided ... Private
Night schools
952
7,185
2,157 included under
1,528 Anglo-Chinese
grammar
3
1,122
Non-Certificate of Education Courses
Technical, vocational, prevocational, secondary modern, commer-
cial and tutorial:
***
Government
PRIMARY
Schools
Attendance
Aided
Government and government-aided ...
Private
744
567,713
Private
446
129,274
Total
1,190
696,987
Free primary education was introduced in all government Chinese primary schools and the majority of aided primary schools in Sep- tember 1971. The Director of Education is empowered to order parents to send their children to school where it appears to him that a parent is withholding a child aged between 6-II from attending primary school without any reasonable excuse. A parent who is aggrieved by an attendance order from the Director of Education may appeal to a specially constituted board of review if he wishes.
The aim of the six-year primary course is to provide a good general education appropriate to the age range and particular environment of the children.
The majority of schools teach in Cantonese, with English in- troduced as a second language from the second year.
Seven schools, including five operated by the government, cater for children whose first language is English.
Almost all government and aided schools and some private schools, operate in two sessions—from 8 a.m. to I p.m. and from 1.30 p.m. to 6.30 p.m.
Night schools (including
tutorial classes)
-
12
7,298
9
2,365
86
...
28,194
It is the government's declared aim to provide at least three years of aided secondary education for all children seeking it; thus progressively making available, with government assistance, at least three years post-primary education to all children in the appropriate age group (12-14). The first half of this goal, which caters for 50 per cent of the age group as determined from census information, will be achieved by 1976. Within the 50 per cent figure, provision will be made for 18-20 per cent of the 12-16 year age group to go on to fully aided secondary courses leading to the certificate of education.
A full study of the future development of secondary education was undertaken by a new Board of Education appointed by the Governor in January 1973. The Board's report was tabled as a Green Paper in the Legislative Council on October 31, the same year and the public were invited to comment on it. The White Paper, which spells out the government's policy on the expansion of secondary education during the next decade, was tabled on October 16, 1974. The main aim is to make available, by 1979, subsidised education for every child for nine years. That is six' years in a primary school followed by three years in a secondary school for the 12-14 age group. It is also the government's aim to provide at the same time sufficient subsidised places in senior secondary forms for 40 per cent of the 15-16 age group.
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