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EDUCATION
screening, assessment and remedial services by the Special Education Section of the Educa- tion Department. Of these, 250,582 primary school children underwent the group testing and screening programmes which included vision, audiometric and speech screening. Assessment and remedial services including adjustment groups, teacher and parent coun- selling, speech and auditory training, and speech therapy were also expanded substantially. Altogether, 43,177 children have benefited from these assessment and remedial services at the Education Department's special education centres.
The expansion of special education has necessitated an increased effort in the training of specialist staff. Overseas training is provided for the specialist staff of the Special Educa- tion Section and local in-service courses are run for teachers in special schools and classes. During 1980, eight in-service training courses were run for teachers of handicapped children. They included courses for teachers of the blind and partially-sighted, the deaf and partially- hearing, the physically-handicapped, the slow-learning, the mentally-handicapped, the maladjusted and socially-deprived, and teachers who assist in speech therapy work. A total of 223 teachers enrolled in these courses during the year. In addition, short courses, seminars and workshops were organised by the Special Education Section for teachers in ordinary schools and för trainee-teachers at the colleges of education.
Technical Education
Five technical institutes are run by the Education Department and a sixth is planned for the new town of Tuen Mun in the New Territories. These institutes provide courses at craft and technician levels on a full-time, block-release, part-time day-release and evening basis. The main subjects covered include: construction, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, marine and fabrication, textiles and clothing, commercial studies, industrial technology, design, printing, hotel-keeping and tourism, as well as general studies. A number of short courses are also offered to meet the specialised requirements of industry and commerce. During the first term of the 1980-1 academic year, there were about 3,000 full-time, 9,000 block-release and part-time day and 15,000 part-time evening students.
A credit-unit system has been adopted for technician study programmes, chiefly to provide greater flexibility for the students. Programmes in the main disciplines such as electrical and electronic engineering, mechanical and production engineering, and building and civil engineering have already been validated by the Technician Education Council (TEC) in Britain, while validation for others is being sought. The programmes approved by the TEC enable successful students to obtain membership of a large number of pro- fessional societies, both locally and overseas.
During the 1980-1 academic year, about 50 handicapped students were enrolled in courses in technical institutes in line with the government's policy of helping to integrate the disabled into the community. The Technical Education for the Disabled Unit, estab- lished in 1979 in the Technical Education Division of the Education Department, has been actively engaged in the planning and development of technical education, vocational training and related supporting services for the disabled. In August, the unit assumed responsibility for the operation of the World Rehabilitation Fund Centre, in Kwun Tong, which provides technical and commercial vocational training for the disabled. An adviser from the International Labour Organisation came to Hong Kong in October to advise on the curriculum for this type of training. Meanwhile, progress was made in the preparation of a special code of aid for subventing vocational training centres operated by voluntary agencies.