80
EDUCATION
and aided schools. When the first pupils complete the five-year course which was introduced in 1963, a new sixth year of basic education-embracing as much as possible of the work now done in Form I of secondary schools-will be added. At the end of this additional year pupils will enter for the Secondary School Entrance Examination. Pupils who were enrolled in government and aided schools before 1963, and who are unable on completion of their six-year course to gain admission to a full secondary course, will continue to be offered a seventh year of education in Special Form I, provided they are under 14 years of age. Five government primary schools cater for children whose normal language is English.
The total primary day school enrolment in September was 584,305, which is 97.2 per cent of the estimated number of children in the six-11 year inclusive age group. In addition, 43,316 pupils were attending primary night schools and special afternoon classes. Nevertheless, it is still possible for a child of primary school age to experience difficulty in finding a school place at fees which his parents can afford. This difficulty stems in part from the fact that many school places are occupied by overage children. Further expansion is therefore continuing, particularly in developing areas such as resettlement estates where the first annexe-type 24-classroom schools were completed during the year. It is likely that these will become standard in new resettlement estates.
During the year, 46,395 new primary places were provided compared with 33,930 in the previous year.
There are no government kindergarten schools, but there is an increasing demand for this type of education for children aged usually from four to seven. Kindergarten schools are registered with the Education Department and the enrolment increased from 39,642 in the previous year to 46,595 in September 1965.
Twenty special schools cater for the blind, the deaf, the physically handicapped and the mentally handicapped. The special education section of the inspectorate provides training courses for teachers in these fields, gives advice to the schools on organization, curricula and teaching methods, and works in co-operation with voluntary bodies and other government departments in developing services and facilities for handicapped children. In September, there were 92 physically handicapped children enrolled in government primary schools.