2. Vernacular Schools.
The Government maintained one vernacular middle school or secondary school, the Saiyingpun Vernacular School for Boys which had a maximum enrolment of 252. Previously to September, 1939 this school was known as the Vernacular Normal and Middle School, but with the opening of the Teachers Training College it was decided to recruit no new scholars for the normal classes and by July, 1940 to abolish that part of the school, replacing it by lower primary divisions. Eight out of the ten boys presented from this school passed the local school certificate examination which was conducted in English. The fees at the school varied from $24 (£1. 10s) to $96 per annum and the staff were on the same salary as those in other Government schools.
There was one vernacular grant school for boys—Munsang College with a maximum enrolment of 536—and one subsidised boys school which had a lower middle school with a primary division and received a subsidy of $480 in 1939 on a maximum enrolment of 110. Munsang College completed a new building during the year. Besides a large hall it has 10 middle school classrooms, 2 science laboratories, a library and a large playground. In a separate building the school provides accommodation for boarders.
In the five middle schools for girls which received subsidies during the year, 520 boys attended the middle school classes and 1,708 the primary.
There were 75 non-subsidised private day schools existing on 31st December with a total maximum attendance of 5,371. Mostly, these schools were run by private teachers, the fees charged ranging from $4 (5s/-) to $7 per mensem. The six-years middle school course is divided equally between the lower middle and higher middle divisions. Practically all schools have a primary department from which students are promoted to the middle school division, many not going beyond the junior middle division.
These schools differ from the maintained and aided schools in that (a) Chinese is the medium of instruction at all stages, although English is a compulsory subject in the middle school curriculum, and (2) passed students from these schools can only continue in a Chinese University. In order to be allowed to enter students for the entrance examination of universities in China, some of these schools registered with the Chinese Government, but this did not interfere with their curriculum or the conditions of their registration with the Education Department, Hong Kong.
Besides the aforementioned urban schools, in 1939 there were 5 secondary schools (one for girls) in the New Territories which had been forced to remove from Canton or its vicinity by the Sino-Japanese hostilities; all these schools were boarding schools. With the exception of one which has acquired extensive land and is building very substantial buildings, all of them will probably return to their original homes when conditions permit.
Vocational.
(1) The Evening Institute is a collective name for the various evening classes organised by the Education Department at different centres. These classes were held for seven months during the year, 1 or 2 hours per week, the maximum enrolment being 958 (756 male students): classes in the following subjects were distributed among 7 centres—shorthand, book-keeping and accountancy, English; arithmetic, machine drawing and elementary mathematics for engineering apprentices in preliminary courses; shipbuilding, engineering, electrical engineering, building and field surveying, in senior courses; and engineering, shipbuilding and building and pharmacy in advanced courses. The fees were $10 a term (2 terms a year) with the exception of the lower rate of $5 for apprentices and $1 for vernacular teachers classes.
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2. Vernacular Schools.
The Government maintained one vernacular middle school or secondary school, the Saiyingpun Vernacular School for Boys which had a maximum enrol- ment of 252. Previously to September, 1939 this school was known as the Vernacular Normal and Middle School, but with the opening of the Teachers Training College it was decided to recruit no new scholars for the normal classes and by July, 1940 to abolish that part of the school, replacing it by lower primary divisions. Eight out of the ten boys presented from this school passed the local school certificate examination which was conducted in English. The fees at the school varied from $24 (£1. 10s) to $96 per annum and the staff were on the same salary as those in other Government schools.
There was one vernacular grant school for boys-Munsang College with a maximum enrolment of 536—and one subsidised boys school which had a lower middle school with a primary division and received a subsidy of $480 in 1939 on a maximum enrolment of 110. Munsang College completed a new building during the year. Besides a large hall it has 10 middle school class-rooms, 2 science laboratories, a library and a large playground. In a separate building the school provides accommodation for boarders.
In the five middle schools for girls which received subsidies during the year, 520 boys attended the middle school classes and 1,708 the primary.
There were 75 non-subsidised private day schools existing on 31st December with a total maximum attendance of 5,371. Mostly, these schools were run by private teachers, the fees charged ranging from $4 (5s/-) to $7 per mensem. The six-years middle school course is divided equally between the lower middle and higher middle divisions. Practically all schools have a primary department from which students are promoted to the middle school division, many not going beyond the junior middle division.
These schools differ from the maintained and aided schools in that (a) Chinese is the medium of instruction at all stages, although English is a compulsory subject in the middle school curriculum, and (2) passed students from these schools can only continue in a Chinese University. In order to be allowed to enter students for the entrance examination of universities in China, some of these schools registered with the Chinese Government, but this did not interfere with their curriculum or the conditions of their registration with the Education Department, Hong Kong.
Besides the aforementioned urban schools, in 1939 there were 5 secondary schools (one for girls) in the New Territories which had been forced to remove from Canton or its vicinity by the Sino-Japanese hostilities; all these schools were boarding schools. With the exception of one which has acquired extensive land and is building very substantial buildings, all of them will probably return to their original homes when conditions permit.
Vocational.
(1) The Evening Institute is a collective name for the various evening classes organised by the Education Department at different centres. These classes were held for seven months during the year, 1 or 2 hours per week, the maximum enrolment being 958 (756 male students): classes in the following subjects were distributed among 7 centres-shorthand, book-keeping and accountancy, English; arithmetic, machine drawing and elementary mathematics for engineering ap- prentices in preliminary courses; shipbuilding, engineering, electrical engineering, building and field surveying, in senior courses; and engineering, shipbuilding and building and pharmacy in advanced courses. The fee were $10 a term (2 terms a year) with the exception of the lower rate of $5 for apprentices and $1 for vernacular teachers classes.
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