Chapter 8: Education
THE number of children in Hong Kong schools continues to rise rapidly. By the end of September 1959 it was nearly 485,000. On the liberation of the Colony in 1945 the number was just over 4,000.
The number of schools and total enrolment on 30th September 1959 were as follows:
Government
Government-Aided:
(a) Grant
(b) Subsidized
Private
Special Afternoon Classes
Special Education (including
handicapped children)
Total ...
+
No. of Schools
Enrolment
Percentage
of Enrolment at 31.3.59
No. of Teachers
83
71,072
14.6
2,214
21
19,363
4.0
785
386
123,239
25.4
3,587
998
257,423
53.1
11,292
13,156
2.7
733
0.2
1,488
484,986
100.0
17,878
The percentage of children in private schools dropped slightly during the year: this was due to the increased provision of government and aided schools. Even so, private school enrolment itself increased considerably during the year, and still amounts to over half the total enrolment. As private schools are self- supporting and therefore charge higher fees than government or government-aided schools, their numerical predominance in the educational system clearly demonstrates the continuing public demand in the Colony for education even at a relatively high cost. School Expansion Programme. The Government seven-year plan for the expansion of primary education, instituted late in 1954 with the aim of providing by the end of 1961 places for all children of primary school age, made good progress during the year. The present target figure is 33,000 new places each year. Between 30th