provides secondary education up to the level of the Cambridge Overseas School Certificate. Children under II whose parents are in one of the three Services normally attend military schools.
There are 20 grant schools, some of which have facilities to accommodate boarders. All of them give primary education and the majority have secondary classes as well. They are administered under a system of grants-in-aid started in 1873 and subsequently revised several times, the latest revision being in 1945. The present arrange- ment is that after the Education Department has approved a grant school's annual expenditure the Government provides the school with financial aid to cover those running costs which are not met from tuition fees. Grants are also made to cover 50% of the cost of any new equipment or building which may be approved. A grant-aided school which owns its own buildings may be given a building depreciation grant to replace old structures and interest-free loans normally repayable in ten years may be made for new buildings. Under the terms of the Grant Code the salaries of local teachers are the same as those of teachers with similar qualifications in Government schools, teachers with approved British, American or Commonwealth qualifications receiving salaries as overseas-trained teachers, irrespective of race or nationality. The number of children attending these schools has risen from 12,000 in 1946 to almost 14,000 of which more than 8,000 were girls. Since these schools are closely linked with the Church of England, or with particular missions and religious Orders, a strong tradition of Christian service exists in all of them.
There are 313 schools subsidized by the Government. Most of them are situated in the rural areas, where only 43 out of a total of 247 non-government schools can maintain themselves without a subsidy. The large majority of these schools provide primary education for boys and girls and use Chinese as the medium of instruction. The schools are administered under the Subsidy Code, a recent revision of which improved teachers' salaries by 400%, the salaries being now two-thirds of those paid in Government and grant schools. Were it not for the subsidies many of these schools would be compelled either to charge higher school fees, or to pay inadequate salaries with consequent lowering of standards. The number of schools receiving subsidies has increased from 291 in 1950 to 313 this year. Each subsidy is at least half the difference between a school's expenditure and income, and usually a good deal more, sufficient to cover the whole financial deficit. The fact that the amount spent annually on subsidies is rising is an indication that schools welcome this form of assistance in spite of the greater measure of control it involves. During the year enrolment in subsidized schools increased by almost 8,000 to 38,222 and a Subsidized Schools Council, whose members represent the various types
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