2% of factories are involved in the illegal employment of children,
and that the numbers of children involved are only a tiny proportion
of those in the corresponding age group.
5. The maximum fine for the illegal employment of children was
increased from HK$5,000 to HK$10,000 in 1977. The possibility
of introducing a statutory minimum fine was also discussed, but was
opposed on principle by the Chief Justice of Hong Kong who pointed
out that the circumstances of individual cases can vary enormously.
The Hong Kong Attorney-General also opposed the idea, particularly
since he feared that a high minimum fine could result in magistrates
being reluctant to convict in cases of a less heinous nature.
6. The enforcement of attendance at schools is the responsibility
of District Education Inspectors. The Director of Education has
statutory powers to serve an attendance order on a parent who is with-
holding any child between the ages of 6 and 12 from attending school
without reasonable excuse. The age limit will be raised to 14 by
1980. In 1978, the District Education Inspectors, with the
assistance of Welfare Department staff, investigated 10,099 cases.
In three quarters of the cases, the children were found to be attending
school elsewhere. In most of the other cases, the Inspectors either
found that there were reasonable excuses why the children were not
attending school or they persuaded the parents to send the children
back to school. It is rarely necessary or appropriate to resort to
prosecution: there have only been two prosecutions since 1971.
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