EDUCATION
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craft apprenticeship schemes with associated part-time day-release courses at technical institutes. Credit is given by the institutes for technical subjects which have been studied in depth at school, and direct entry to the second year of an approved craft apprenticeship may be permitted for graduates of prevocational schools.
There are now 21 prevocational schools providing 16 760 places. A further seven schools of this type are included in the Secondary School Building Programme.
The Junior Secondary Education Assessment (JSEA) System, which allocates suitable Secondary 3 leavers to Secondary 4 places and post-Secondary 3 craft courses, completed its eighth cycle in August. The system has been improved and participants are no longer required to attend a public scaling test. Of the 76 137 students presented for allocation, 60 699 or 79.7 per cent were allocated aided places in Secondary 4 or full-time craft courses. Of those who were allocated Secondary 4 places, 85.4 per cent were able to continue studying in their own schools.
In order to promote practical/technical education for junior secondary students in schools which do not have suitable facilities, a Practical Education Centre was opened in September 1986. This centre, operated and maintained by the government, has 15 fully-equipped workshops and special rooms to cater for a maximum weekly enrolment of 9 600. Courses, which are free of charge, include Design and Technology (Woodwork, Metalwork and Plastics), Home Economics (Cookery, Needlework) and Art and Design (Painting, Pottery and 3-Dimensional work). The centre caters for students at Secondary 1 to 3 levels. Courses may later be extended to Secondary 4 and 5 levels.
The Careers Education Section of the Education Department promotes careers educa- tion and student guidance in secondary schools. It continued to work closely with the Labour Department and the Careers Division of the Hong Kong Association of Careers Masters and Guidance Masters to provide a comprehensive service for young people. The section also co-operates with the Guidance Division of the Association and school social workers in providing guidance services to secondary school students. A Guidance Teacher Resource Centre was set up in July to provide resources support to secondary schools.
Special Education
The provision of special education continued to develop in line with the objectives of the White Paper on Rehabilitation published in 1977 and the subsequent annual reviews of the Rehabilitation Programme Plan. A total of 14 291 special places for handicapped children were provided in 1988, compared with 13 516 places in the previous year.
There were 72 special schools providing 8 741 places for the more severely handicapped. These schools provided special education for the blind, the deaf, the physically handi- capped, the mentally handicapped, the maladjusted and socially deprived and children with learning difficulties. The boarding sections of 16 special schools provided 866 residential places. There were also 376 special education classes in ordinary schools providing 5550 places for the partially sighted, partially hearing, and children with learning difficulties.
A three-year pilot scheme, launched in 1985 to provide remedial support for mildly disabled children integrated in non-profit-making kindergartens, was successfully com- pleted, and an integrated kindergarten programme has since been fully implemented to meet the special need of young children below the age of six who are mildly disabled.
Intensive remedial services were provided by the Special Education Section of the Education Department for children with learning difficulties and adjustment problems in ordinary classes. These services included remedial support outside school hours in resource