Item 3 "Deep concern about the number of untrained teachers"
The figures for untrained teachers quoted by the Education Action Group are misleading for two reasons; they make no distinction between the public and private sectors, and they include untrained university graduates who, in Hong Kong, as in many other countries, are considered suitable for teaching. The actual figures at March 1977 were:-
Kindergarten
Primary
Secondary
Type of teacher
Private
Govt./aided Private Govt./aided
Private
Trained university
41
319
87 1,453
693
graduate
Trained non-
719
15,637
450
1,706
1,100
graduate
760
15.956
537
3,159
1,793
(17.3%)
(95%)
(18.5%)
(67%)
(21.4%)
Untrained
112
651
215
1,452
3,695
university
graduate
Untrained non-
3,523
180
2,156
106
2,872
graduate
3,635
831
2,371
1,558
6,567
(82.7%)
(5%) (81.5%)
(33%)
(78.6%)
4,395
16,787
2,908 4,717
8,360
19,695
13,077
Kindergartens
2.
All kindergartens are privately operated, although the Education Department provides assistance and guidance as well as carrying out regular inspections, With the high priority placed first on primary and then on secondary education over the last decade, it has not been possible for Government to allocate financial resources to the pre-primary sector, but a reconsideration of this position will be made in the forthcoming Review of Primary Education.
Primary
3.
Only 1.1% of teachers in the public sector are untrained non-graduates. Since 1971, there have been sufficient free places in the public sector for all children of primary school age.