137
Part VII.
EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTS.
In the 1921 Census the only enquiry regarding education was "State whether you can read and write." For this present Census three questions were asked :---(i) Can you read and write your Mother Tongue, (ii) Can you speak English. (iii) Can you read and write English.
There is, of course, a strong temptation in answering, unchecked, questions such as these, to claim attainments which one does not possess or possesses only in a very small degree. The figures are likely, therefore, to err by giving too favourable an impression of educational attainments and this error may vary considerably from time to time. For this reason comparison with previous censuses is of uncertain value aud is also difficult on account of the different method for presentation of the results adopted in 1921.
To give a true index of the educational attainments of the people, it is necessary to exclude infants under school age and it might even be advisable to exclude those who have started school but are still in the early stages of their education. From the tables attached it will be seen that the maximum percentage of those able to read and write is not attained unless all below the age of 16 are excluded.
The following table, which should be read in the light of these considerations, is a comparison between the years 1921 and 1931 in respect of all persons of Chinese race aged 5 and over :-
Ability to read and write Chinese--percentages of persons aged 5 and over of Chinese race who claim such ability.
1921.
1931.
Males Females
Total
Males
Females
Total
Hong Kong & Kowloon
71.56
13.55
51.22
76.15
22.26
53.91
3:
New Territories
56.62
2.48
30,51
64.22
3.74
29.05
Afloat
45.61
3.90
29.77
27.88
1.27
17.30
Table 32 shows the numbers in the three main geographical groups of the people of Chinese race who claim educational attainments of the three categories. Tables 33 and 34 give, in groups of certain ages, the percentages of persons of Chinese race and of the non-Chinese races who claim educational attainments. The first group, 5 years and over, excludes only infants of 4 and under; the second excludes also children aged 10 and under; the next those of 15 and under; and the last group includes only adults of 21 and over.