48
HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT
was considered by those who attended it to have been useful, and it is intended to hold further courses of this kind.
Craft apprenticeship within the Government service is provided by the Kowloon-Canton Railway, the Public Works Department in its electrical, mechanical, and waterworks branches, the Stores Department in its workshops, and the Printing Department. Voca- tional training classes for coxswains and engineers are organized by the Marine Department for Government employees, and by the Fisheries Division of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Department for fishermen.
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A new group of apprentices started work in September in the Public Works Department and the Kowloon-Canton Railway under the scheme of recruitment and training introduced in 1955. Apprentices are selected by means of examination and interview and are required to sign indentures. Attendance at supplementary technical classes is compulsory, but the boys are released from the workshop one day a week to attend classes at the Hong Kong Technical College. In addition they attend classes in their own time on two evenings a week.
Apprenticeship training schemes are operated by the Taikoo Dockyard and Engineering Co. of Hong Kong Ltd., the Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock Co. Ltd., by the public utility com- panies, and by a number of other firms. These concerns encourage apprentices to attend technical classes, and financial help towards fees is often provided. Some large spinning and weaving mills have apprenticeship schemes for mechanics or junior engineers; in certain cases recruitment is by competitive examination and the mills provide classes on their own premises in both technical and general educational subjects.
The Standing Committee on Technical Education and Voca- tional Training, set up in 1954, met three times during the year. The work of the Technical College and the two government technical schools is described in Chapter 8.
NEW TERRITORIES
Although farming and fishing are the two principal occupations in the New Territories, the pattern of country life has been modi- fied by factors common to other maritime areas of South China.