SOCIAL WELFARE
201
Caritas, Hong Kong, the social welfare bureau of the Roman Catholic Diocese, added a four-storey annex to its Aberdeen Social Centre which doubled its capacity to include a printing training school and a metal workshop for training in lathing, drilling and fittings; and smaller centres are operated at Tsuen Wan and else- where. In addition several institutions for deprived or delinquent children or young people provide useful mechanical or other train- ing; and a good many voluntary agencies help needy people to embark on a trade by financing the initial purchase of tools, equip- ment or stock.
These measures, which are not inconsiderable in total sum, not only serve the ends of constructive social work but also make some contribution as 'groundwork' towards the acquisition of industrial and other skills, upon which the future of Hong Kong as a manu- facturing centre so greatly depends.
Consultants' Report on Training. The methodical development of social welfare services at an effective standard must rely largely on trained social workers entering the field in sufficient numbers. The dearth of trained personnel in recent years led to the visit of Dr E. L. Younghusband as consultant in 1960 and her subsequent proposals for the provision of more training facilities and the development of existing courses, both at the academic and in- service levels, with the advice and assistance of a team of experts. During the past year the work of two of three social work training consultants, Professor Alan Klein and Mrs Josephine Chaisson, has been directed towards a study of present academic courses in relation to social welfare services and staffing needs, leading to the preparation of a comprehensive report with recommendations for the future programme of social work education at the two universities. This report was published in November. On their recommendation interim changes in the curricula have already been made by the University of Hong Kong and by Chung Chi College, with particular emphasis on the practical field work train- ing component of the courses and with financial support from the Social Work Training Fund. Several voluntary agencies accepted field work units of four or five students, working under a super- visor employed by the university or the college in cases when the agency could not itself provide the supervision required. Govern- ment continued to provide bursaries for social studies at the