EDUCATION
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are maintained in respect of school buildings, methods of enforcing discipline, the keeping of registers and accounts, the payment of fees, and the proper conduct and efficiency of schools and teachers. The University of Hong Kong, which is an independent body, is exempt from the provisions of the Education Ordinance. A Bill to amend the Education Ordinance was under consideration by the Legislative Council at the end of the year.
Higher Education. Beginning its life largely with financial assistance from generous friends and benefactors, the University of Hong Kong since 1920 has been largely sup- ported by recurrent and non-recurrent grants made annually by the Government. Grants of Crown land have also been made from time to time, and the University estate now covers an area of 36 acres.
The minimum qualification for entry to undergraduate courses is gained through the Matriculation Examination, which is similar in type and standard to the General Certificate of Education Examinations conducted by the Universities of the United Kingdom. Most of the under- graduates are Chinese but many other races are represented, particularly from South-East Asia. The total number (in- cluding graduate and external students) in October 1957 was 1,074 of whom about 30% were women. 239 university students are receiving financial aid in the form of scholar- ships or bursaries.
The number of full-time teaching staff, from demonstrators upward, is 173. Of these over half are locally recruited.
A Department of Extra-Mural Studies has been established with its own Board to advise on questions relating to higher adult education. Twenty extra-mural courses (both in English and in Chinese) were arranged this year and those in the medium of Chinese proved especially popular.
The University Health Service has been expanded. In April an observation ward for women students was opened in Lady Ho Tung Hall, and in August the Health Clinic