)
take priority over other services for the welfare of the staff. The opening scheduled for July 1955, of the new Tsan Yuk Hospital of the Medical Department will make available a portion of the old Tsan Yuk building and will somewhat ease but by no means solve the overcrowding at the Head Office of the Social Welfare Office.
11. Members of the staff who were eligible were given every encouragement and assistance to join in the Government Housing Scheme for local officers. Seven officers in the Social Welfare Office qualified for this scheme and a loan from Govern- ment was approved to enable them to build their own flats.
12. The majority of the professional social workers in the Social Welfare Office are members of the Hong Kong Social Workers Association and the picnics, film-shows, and talks on subjects of professional interest arranged by this organization were always enthusiastically attended by Social Welfare Office staff. The officers-in-charge of the various sections of the Social Welfare Office also arranged several picnics for staff in their own sections.
CHAPTER III
TRAINING OF SOCIAL WORKERS
13. The trend among public
among public and voluntary welfare organizations to expand their programmes and develop new services led to increased demands for qualified personnel.
14. This need was met in part by the Hong Kong University's 2 year course in Social Science (originally establish- ed in 1951). Eleven students attended this course during 1954/55 of whom 5 were in the first year and 6 in the second year of their studies. Assistance in supervising the practical work of the students was given by the Social Welfare Office, the Almoners' Branch of the Medical Department and voluntary organizations such as the Hong Kong Family Welfare Society.
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