nature are also conducted. these schools.
Altogether, 953 are enrolled in
The Hong Kong Technical College is still not able to re- open all the classes conducted before the war. One class was re-opened in November 1947 and others are added from time to time. Evening classes with an enrolment of 851 students are conducted and at present include instruction in preliminary engineering and ship-building and in wireless telegraphy. Many of the pupils who attend these classes are apprentices from the Royal Naval, Kowloon and Taikoo Dockyards. Junior Technical School was re-opened in September, 1948.
The
The Evening Institute which re-opened in 1946 has now an enrolment of 912 students. Classes include instruction in book-keeping, short hand and English for commercial students, instruction in pharmacy and instruction for the supplementary training of teachers in general subjects and in physical education. Classes for adult education in the rural areas depend considerably on seasonal occupations and their numbers consequently fluctuate. There are now five centres for the education of adults who are for the most part engaged in farming and fishing. The syllabus includes reading, writing and simple arithmetic, and the treat- ment of subjects is designed to meet the special requirements of adults rather than normal school pupils.
The Northcote Training College for teachers was re-opened in March 1946 and now has 125 students. Owing to lack of training during the war years and the consequent acute shortage of trained teachers, it has been found necessary to introduce classes for the training of teachers who have several years of experience. A further step in the training of teachers was the establishment in September 1946 of a Rural Training College at Fanling, in the New Territories. This is a residential training centre for those who intend to take up teaching in the rural schools. In addition to educational subjects the students receive instruction in rural occupations and spend a considerable part of their time in practical agriculture. In 1946 there were 25 students at the College, including men and women, but during 194
but during 1948 the number rose to 50. The intention is that the students graduating from the Rural Training College should take the place of teachers at present engaged in rural schools whose training and qualifications are on the whole scanty. The teachers thus released will be given oourses in the Rural Training College and by the time they have qualified it is expected that there will be sufficient schools in the rural areas to absorb them. The entire process is expected
to take six to ten years.
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