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support of the Board of Education, may not result in any hardship, the number of free places in the schools has been doubled. The increase in school fees is not so important from the revenue point of view as the fact that it will tend to reduce quite appreciably the increasing burden which Government has been bearing since the re-occupation in respect of the grant aided schools. When they bring their fees into line with the fees of Government schools the deficit on their year's working, which Government meets, will naturally be reduced. In the course of the Budget Debate, reference was made to the very high cost of these grant-in-aid schools and the suggestion was put forward that the services of an expert from outside the Colony should be obtained with a view to ascertaining whether this money is being spent to the best advantage. This sugges- tion is now receiving the consideration of Government. The total cost of education for the current year amounts to $20,788,814 or 10.35% of the total expenditure and in addition a further $3,206,684 is being expended from loan funds.
23. Under the Marine Department Head, provision has been included for a new fire-float, which is expected to cost $1 million. This is a lot of money but it is considered essential that a port of this importance should have a really up-to-date fire-float and this view was strongly endorsed by the Commission on the Wing On Godown fire.
24.
The apparent reduction in expenditure under Medical Department Personal Emoluments from $7,378,522 to $6,746,741 merits a word of explanation. This apparent drop of $600,000 in Personal Emoluments is due to the transfer of certain health personnel to the Sanitary Department; thus resulting in an increase under the latter head. The emoluments of the trans- ferred staff, excluding cost of living allowances, total just over $900,000, so instead of a reduction in Medical Personal Emoluments there has actually been an increase of nearly $300,000, on basic salaries alone.
25. Steps were taken last year to do away with the queues which, consequent upon the influx of population, were forming outside out patients' departments, often during the night. These remedial measures have had the desired effect and will be continued during the present year. An interesting develop- ment which will also be continued during the year is the establishment of evening paying clinics voluntarily staffed by local private practitioners who attend from 6-8 p.m. A small charge of $3. a visit is made and the scheme was intended to provide assistance for that class of the community who can afford to pay something but not the fees normally charged. Actually the class for which the scheme was devised has not taken advantage of it and those attending are mostly workmen who prefer to pay this small charge in order to avoid the wait- ing which is often necessary in the free clinics.
26. Work on the tuberculosis clinic at Kowloon, for which provision was included in last year's estimates, was held up for various reasons. The drawings have now, however, been completed and work should commence very soon. In the meantime, anti- tuberculosis work in Hong Kong will be continued at the Harcourt Health Centre. It was also intended last year to provide much needed additional accommodation of a temporary design for the Kowloon Hospital staff. It was felt, however, that such accommodation would take up a great deal of space and it was clear that more would be needed when certain requisitioned premises now used for the hospital staff are given up. It has now, therefore, been decided to construct permanent accommoda- tion in the shape of higher buildings which will take up less ground space, and provision to enable this work to be put in hand has been included in the estimates. Complaints have been received from time to time about conditions at Lai Chi Kok Hospital and provision has been included under Public Works Non- recurrent for the installation of a modern flush system and hot
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