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HISTORY
1971 for the vernacular schools and at the same time a form of compulsory education for all primary schools came into force. A new policy for secondary education was also announced. Under this, three years of post primary education will be provided for all children in the age group 12-14 and it is hoped that half of the places required can be provided by 1976. The University of Hong Kong re-opened in 1946 with a total of 109 students and, by 1972, had expanded to 3,030 under-graduates, 395 higher degree students and 265 students reading for post-graduate diplomas or cer- tificates. The Chinese University of Hong Kong opened in October 1963 comprising three student colleges, Chung Chi, New Asia and United and enrolment had risen to. 2,582 by September 1972. A Polytechnic, run by its own board with its first principal appointed in 1971, assumed responsibility for the work of the Hong Kong Technical College in August 1972.
The Social Welfare Office was set up in 1946 and became an independent govern- ment department in 1958 with branches dealing with community services, the problems of the handicapped, family welfare, probation and public assistance. These services are provided both directly and also by grants to voluntary agencies, particularly the 93 organisations affiliated to the Hong Kong Council of Social Service, which was founded in 1946. A wider scheme of public relief, inaugurated in 1970, gives needy families cash grants in lieu of assistance in kind.
The rapid industrialisation of Hong Kong has demanded special attention to labour legislation. Hours of work for women and young people were regulated in 1959 and by the end of 1971 were reduced to eight a day and 48 a week.--Industrial workers are guaranteed six days paid holiday annually and 12 days sick leave on half pay. All manual workers and non-manual workers earning less than $1,500 a month must be given four rest days each month. In addition, the Labour Department has conciliation machinery to deal with industrial disputes and great progress has been made with industrial health and safety measures. The development of an effective trade union movement has been relatively slow and local trade unions retain strong political affiliations.
Huge housing estates bear spectacular witness to the government's interest in this field. It has been the policy to integrate refugees into the local community and after 50,000 squatters lost their flimsy homes in a Christmas day fire in 1953, it was decided to resettle them in multi-storey blocks built to minimum standards of accom- modation. These resettlement blocks have been gradually improved and standards of accommodation have been progressively raised as new housing estates have been constructed. Resettlement estates housed 1.2 million people at the end of 1972. Low-cost housing estates have also been built for those with monthly incomes up to $500 and these accommodated 331,153 people at the end of 1972. The Government Housing Authority was set up in 1954 and had built nine estates housing 218,450 persons by the end of 1972, these estates being intended for those with a family income of $400 to $1,250 per month. Of government-aided voluntary housing societies, the Hong Kong Housing Society is the largest. Altogether about 46 per cent of the entire population lived in government built or aided housing at the end of 1972.