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government or aided secondary schools or were given assisted places
in private secondary schools, thus exceeding the aim by 3.3 per cent.
A further 49.3 per cent of primary school leavers were admitted to
11.
other secondary schools offering courses to School Certificate level.
The 1965 White Paper considered that because the current
position so closely approached the aims of existing policy the time
had come to select fresh ones. In outline, these were as follows:
(i)
to rely for the time being on voluntary
organisations and private enterprise to provide
kindergarten education; the Education Department
to assist in providing advisory services and
facilities for in-service training courses;
(ii) to extend the number of places in government
and aided primary schools as rapidly as possible
and to introduce a scheme of subsidised places in
private schools so as to provide for all children
seeking any such places (estimated to be 80 per
cent of all children of primary school age);
(iii) to lengthen the primary course to six years,
absorbing the existing Special Forms I into the
primary system, and with particular attention to
the study of English in the sixth year in order to
facilitate later study in Anglo-Chinese schools,
to improve English standards in Chinese Middle
schools and to benefit the Chinese University;
(iv) to reduce the age of entry to primary school to
6 years (this had been raised from 6 to 7 in 1963.
when a new pattern had been introduced of a five-
year basic primary course starting at age 7,
to
be followed by two extra years in Special Forms I
and II for those children. not proceeding to a full