In industry, overtime employment for women is restricted to two hours a day a 200 hours a year, while persons under the age of 18 are not permitted to work overtime. As a general rule, overtime empoyment for women is reckoned by reference to an industrial undertaking. However, an employer may, subject to compliance with conditions imposed by the Commissioner for Labour, choose to calculate overtime by reference to different parts of his undertaking, or to different sets of women in different processes, or to the individual woman.
Employers are prohibited, under the Immigration Ordinance, from employing persons who have no valid proof of identity, Vietnamese refugees not being permitted to obtain employment. The Ordinance also requires all employees to produce proof of identity for inspection and employers to maintain up-to-date records for their employees. These legislative requirements are intended to stop the flow of illegal immigrants into Hong Kong.
EDUCATION
Within the Government Secretariat, policy responsibility for education matters rests with the Secretary for Education and Manpower.
The Education Commission, established in April 1984, is the government's highest advisory body on education. Its overall aim is to provide the Governor with advice on the development of the educational system, in the light of the needs of the community.
The Commission is composed of 15 members, 12 of whom, including the Chairman, are non-Government members appointed with a view to ensuring that a broad range of personal and professional experience is brought to bear on the issues before the Commission. The ex officio members are the Chairman of the Board of Education, the University and Polytechnic Grants Committee and the Vocational Training Council. The two remaining members are government officials -- the Secretary of Education and Manpower (who is Vice-Chairman) and the Director of Education.
The Commission sets out its recommendations in reports which are normally published for public consultation. In 1989, the Government accepted the major recommendations in the Commission's third report which dealt with the structure of tertiary education and the future of private schools.
The Commission is now working on its fifth report which will deal with the teaching profession and expects to publish it by the end of 1991. In this report they will examine issues like teacher training, teacher morale and the Colleges of Education.
Student Finance. Full-time students attending the local tertiary institutions are eligible, on the basis of evident need, for grants to cover their faculty expenses, tuition fees and student union fees and for loans to meet their living expenses. During the year, 8,856 students received loans totalling $90·1 million, and 7,064 of these students also received grants totalling $46.8 million.
Under the joint-funding arrangement between the Governments of the United Kingdom and Hong Kong, grants are made on the basis of need to full-time students who are attending first-degree or Higher Diploma courses in the United Kingdom, to meet the difference between home and overseas students fees. During the year, grants totalling $4 million and loans totalling £21 million were paid to 1,701 students.
UK-HK Scholarships. The scope of the UK-HK Joint-Funding Scheme was expanded in 1988 to include a number of UK-HK Scholarships awarded on merit. The aim of the scholarships is to provide further educational opportunities at the tertiary level in the United Kingdom for outstanding local students.
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The scholarship fund is made up of a total of £250,000 contributed equally by the United Kingdom Government and the Jockey Club on behalf of the Hong Kong Government. For the 1990-91 academic year, nine scholarships were awarded.
MEDICAL AND HEALTH
The Department of Health and the Hospital Services Department work closely together to provide a complementary programme of preventive, promotive, curative and rehabilitative services. They are advised by the Medical Development Advisory Committee.
The Department of Health provides a wide range of services to promote health and prevent diseases. The Hospital Services Department is responsible for carrying out Government policies on hospital services and advising the Government, through the Health and Welfare Branch, on the operational implications of these policies.
For the 1990-91 financial year, the allocation of funds to the Government medical and health services amounts to $4,854 million. In addition, subventions totalling 2,076 million were provided for non-Government medical institutions or organisations. Capital expenditure on new hospitals and other buildings, including equipment and furniture, was about $1,639 million, including $477 million for the subvented sector.
The general level of health of the population remains good. This is reflected in the highly satisfactory health indices. Infant mortality has stayed below seven per 1,000 live-births and the average life expectancy is 80 for women and 74 for men. The leading causes of death today are cancer, heart disease and cerebrovascular diseases. The low infant mortality rate is attributed mainly to the provision of comprehensive family health care and neo-natal case facilities as well as improve- ments in environmental and socio-economic conditions and the health infrastructure. The incidence of AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) has increased slightly. During 1990, 12 cases were reported, bringing the total number on record from 32 to 44, of whom 30 have died.
Concerning cholera, there were five cases reported in the year among the general population. Of these, two were local cases. Prompt control measures were taken and there was no spread to the local community.
Tuberculosis remains a disease pf public health importance in Hong Kong. There were 6,510 notifications during the year, representing a notification rate of 112 per 100,000.
Hospitals in Hong Kong, both public and private, provide a total of 25,286 beds, representing 4-4 beds per thousand population. They provide low-cost hospital services which are easily accessible to the people of Hong Kong. In 1990, more than 645,000 patients were treated at 35 public hospitals.
The development programme has been progressing satisfactorily with the opening of Tuen Mun Hospital and the completion in 1990 of Sha Tin Cheshire Home and Sha Tin Infirmary and Convalescent Hospital.
At Queen Mary Hospital, construction of the Phase II extension block has been completed, with the new psychiatric and paediatric wards being opened in 1990.
Extensive redevelopment of the Ruttonjee Sanatorium in Wan Chai from an institution for chest and tuberculosis patients into a general acute hospital with 614 beds, was completed in 1990.
There is an increasing emphasis on the provision of infirmary beds. The overall picture is impressive.
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