1
3.4
2.
CONFIDENTIAL
Training for child care staff is provided by the Training
Section of the Social Welfare Department, the Hong Kong Polytechnic and
the Lee Wai Lee Technical Institute. The Social Welfare Department
concentrates on in-service training courses and will continue to do so.
The Hong Kong Polytechnic provides both pre-service and in-service training,
whilst the Lee Wai Lee Technical Institute runs a pre-service course for
Form III school leavers. The total number of trained staff as at 1 May 1981
was 1305 against a current requirement of 1859. The present training
facilities should be adequate to meet full demand.
3.5
The minimum age requirement for a child care worker is 18
years of age. However, not all Form III school leavers on completion of the
2-year pre-service course at the Lee Wai Lee Technical Institute will have
attained this minimum age. It is therefore intended to permit the employment of
staff under the age of 18 as child care workers provided they have completed
an approved course of pre-service training at the Lee Wai Lee Technical
Institute or at any other institution offering a comparable course of study.
Many of the measures in respect of Child Care Centres, set out
in this White Paper produce a requirement for additional staff for the
Social Welfare Department. Staff in particular will be required for the
following purposes:
3.6
(a) to increase the Advisory Inspectorate to cope with the larger
number of Child Care Centres required;
(b) to implement the financial assistance scheme and assess
families' entitlements to assistance; and
(c) to meet the enhanced training requirements for child care
centre staff.
KINDERGARTENS
3.7
By the age of four, children can benefit from a more controlled environ-
ment where appropriate materials and guidance are available to promote their
mental and physical development.
Five specific areas of development were
CONFIDENTI