TNAG-0472-FCO40-537-Hong-Kong-government-policy-on-education-1974 — Page 207

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Wednesday, March 6, 1974

a reaching out basis.

The first is a suggestion for a counselling and guidance service on

"The plan is to use youth or community centres as

operational bases to reach out to potential problem youths who have either

dropped out or are about to drop out of school," he explained.

Experienced youth agencies would be approached but the first step

would be to set up a steering group to consider the basic problems of

such a service. Initial projects would have to be run for a year to see

whether they were worthwhile.

At this stage, Mr. Bray said, nobody knows how many such projects

would be necessary.

The other proposal concerned an expansion of craft classes which aim

simply to get the children into a place where they could potter about under

guidance with the sort of tools and materials that may be useful to them in

earning a living.

AM

A. pilot scheme could be started on a trial basis, he said, to devolop

leisure-time activities classes similar to the 10 now operated by the

Boys and Girls Clubs Association for children in the education gap.

For 1,000 children in 10 classes the annual cost would approach

$500,000, he said.

And if it worked, assuming it took two years to set up and evaluate

this scheme, it would have to be expanded fifteen times to reach children not

at school or at work, and forty-five times to get all children in the education

gap, he added. The cost would then be $22.5 million a year without building.

Mr. Bray said he knew that the Kwun Tong Vocational Training Centre

would like to help, and with their present buildings could take in 120 children

The number of children at a cost of nearly $200,000 a year for instruction.

could be doubled to 240 in, say two or three years after some building extensions,

he noted.

Some 200 such centres would be required at a cost of $80 million a year if buildings could be found to cover all children not at school, he said,

Note to Editors:

Copies of the full text of Mr. Bray's speech are boxed for collection.

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