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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1977'
NEARLY 700 SOCIAL WORKERS NEEDED FOR NEW SOCIAL WELFARE PROGRAMMES
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THE GOVERNMENT AND VOLUNTARY WELFARE SECTOR WILL NEED 315 UNIVERSITY-GRADUATE SOCIAL WORKERS AND 372 NON-GRADUATE SOCIAL WORKERS, OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS FOR NEW PROGRAMMES ON REHABILITATION, SERVICES FOR THE ELDERLY AND PERSONAL SOCIAL WORK FOR YOUTH, THE DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL WELFARE, MR. THOMAS LEE, SAID TODAY (FRIDAY).
SPEAKING AT THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE HONG KONG SOCIAL WORKERS' ASSOCIATION ON THE ROLE OF THE SOCIAL WORK PROFESSION IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL WELFARE IN HONG KONG+ HE SAID THIS ESTIMATE DID NOT INCLUDE STAFF FOR SOCIAL SECURITY WORK WHICH NEEDED SOME FORM OF SPECIAL TRAINING DIFFERENT FROM SOCIAL WORK.
ON THE SUPPLY SIDE, MR. LEE POINTED OUT THAT THE TWO UNIVERSITIES WOULD BE PRODUCING BETWEEN 85 AND 100 GRADUATE SOCIAL WORKERS EACH YEAR WHILE THE POLYTECHNIC AND THE TWO POST- SECONDARY COLLEGES WOULD TURN OUT ABOUT 100 NON-GRADUATE SOCIAL WORKERS EACH YEAR.
HE SAID WHILE THESE FIGURES MIGHT ADEQUATELY MEET THE DEMAND FOR SOCIAL WORKERS AT THESE TWO LEVELS FOR THE PROGRAMME PLANS, THERE WOULD EVIDENTLY REMAIN A SHORTFALL CAUSED BY WASTAGE SUCH AS RETIREMENT AND RESIGNATIONS AND NORMAL EXPANSION IN OTHER FIELDS.
MR. LEE MENTIONED TWO WAYS TO TACKLE THE SHORTFALL IN TRAINED PERSONNEL: TO BOOST THE OUTPUT OF TRAINED SOCIAL WORKERS AND TO DEPLOY EXISTING SOCIAL WORKERS TO THE BEST ADVANTAGE.
HE BELIEVED THAT A MAJOR INCREASE IN THE REGULAR OUTPUT OF TRAINED WORKERS WOULD NOT BE THE RIGHT ANSWER AS THERE MIGHT NOT BE AN INDEFINITE NEED FOR A PERMANENT FLOW OF TRAINED WORKERS.
+AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH IS TO TAKE TEMPORARY OR STOP-GAP MEASURES FOR TRAINING EXISTING PERSONNEL OR RECRUITING NON- SOCIAL WORK PERSONNEL WHO THEN DO PART-TIME TRAINING DURING THEIR EARLY YEARS IN SOCIAL WORK, HE SAID.
HOWEVER, HE CONTINUED, SINCE THE FUTURE HEALTH OF THE SOCIAL WELFARE SERVICES IN HONG KONG WOULD DEPEND ON THE QUALITY OF THE SOCIAL WORKERS WE RECRUIT TODAY, IT WOULD BE A GRAVE MISTAKE TO GO SO FAR IN THIS DIRECTION THAT WE DILUTED THE QUALITY OF OUR TRAINED CADRE IN SOCIAL WORK.
ON THE OTHER OPTION OF MAKING THE BEST USE OF TRAINED WORKERS, MR. LEE SAID: +WHATEVER PROGRESS WE MAKE WITH FINDING ADDITIONAL TRAINED SOCIAL WORKERS. WE ARE UNLIKELY TO FIND SUFFICIENT TO CARRY OUT ALL THE TASKS INVOLVED. WE MUST THEREFORE MAKE THE BEST USE WE CAN OF AVAILABLE TRAINED SOCIAL WORKERS.+
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