and friendly relationship between voluntary agencies and the Department as organizations, and between their many individual members of staff, has been of great mutual benefit during the past year. The Department sees its role as that of a partner with the voluntary agencies. Each has important tasks to perform, tasks which will be carried out more effectively in a climate of mutual understanding and goodwill, as the spirit of service to people in need spreads wider afield.
CHAPTER X
TRAINING
97. The nature of social welfare services in Hong Kong and of their progress since March 1964 has now been described at some length. Where do the workers come from? Although it comes late, the subject matter of this chapter is fundamental, because upon it depends the final emer- gence in Hong Kong of a strong and united body of social workers, forming a highly-skilled and academically qualified phalanx of people publicly recognized as having fully professional standards fit to set beside those of the doctors, teachers and administrators. Constructive services must have well-trained staff of this calibre, whether they are to be employed in the voluntary or in the official field.
98. Full-time formal social work courses at the two Universities continued to provide an invaluable source of trained workers. The Univer- sity of Hong Kong has a two-year course for matriculates leading to a Certificate in Social Study, and a one-year post-graduate Diploma course; these credentials both qualify for appointment in the Department as Assistant Social Welfare Officer but at different salaries (see Appendix 2). A hundred and twenty-two students completed one or other of these courses between 1952 and 1964. Of these, forty-eight originally joined the Social Welfare Department and twenty-six the Medical & Health Department as Almoners (now Medical Social Workers). Most of the remaining forty-eight joined voluntary social welfare agencies or other Government departments. Thirteen students completed these courses during 1964; thirteen are enrolled in the current year for the Certificate (six in the first year) and twelve for the post-graduate Diploma.
99. At the Chinese University of Hong Kong training in social work as a major course has been, up to this year, given by the Chung Chi College Department of Sociology and Social Work. Thirty-nine students secured diplomas with social work majors between 1958 and 1964. In this, the
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