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6. SCHOOL HYGIENE.
The school population given in the Wellington Review is 80,000 but this seems an under-estimate of the school-age population as a whole. The 1941 figures given for school population and schools are slated below :-
Government
rant-in-Aid and Subsidized Schools Private Schools.
Total Schools
•
•
Pupils
22
•
295
•
6,300 37,500
972
82,700
1,289
"126,500
The
There is no compulsory attendance at schools in Hong Kong, but a high proportion of children of school-age attend school. The Chinese appreciate the value of education for their children and are prepared to pay for it. lowest charge is a dollar a month and that amount is within the capacity of any parent or guardian of a child in Hong Kong; the attendance rate is high. Some Chinese societies run free primary schools; probably this amounts to one hundred schools, with an approximate school population of five thousand.
Evidence among school children, especially their liveliness and happy attitude, does not indicate a low standard of nutrition among those attending. There is, however, a greater proportion of non-attenders than in more normal times. What this amounts to cannot be ascertained at present because school registers have not yet been re-introduced.
There is no need for me to refer to the use of this group of the population as a medium for the instillation of the principles of hygiene; all this is accepted nowadays. The only difficulty in Hong Kong is the lack of trained staff to take full advantage of the opportunities afforded. This means not only the exhibition of the ordinary methods of propaganda but also indirect ways through the relief of pain and the curing of disabling disease. The Chinese are keen judges of the things that can be turned to their benefit and are thus prepared to receive ideas that are not readily acceptable to many Colonial peoples.
Various Health Services for the schools are referred to in other sections of the report.
Most of the larger school buildings are occupied by the Military Authorities and temporary, but very inadequate, accommodation has had to be found in which to carry on. The result is that large numbers of children have had to be refused admission to any school. buildings should be returned to the at the earliest possible moment.
The permanent schoo1 Education Authorities
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