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the excessive demands of the construction industry.
Education
4.
Primary and junior secondary education is now compulsory
in Hong Kong up to the age of 14 (15 next year). It is provided
free for all those who do not choose to go to private, fee-paying
schools. Fees are charged for senior secondary and post-secondary
education, though in Government schools the fees represent only
about 20% of the total cost. The Government recently announced
plans for expanding senior secondary and higher education: by the
mid-1980s places will be available for 83% of the population to
continue into senior secondary education, and for 33% of them to
go on to higher education after that. Emphasis is also being
placed on improving the quality of education.
Health
5. There are at present 20,000 hospital beds in Hong Kong:
current plans provide for 31,800 by the mid-1980s. Health care
generally is provided through Government-run or subsidised
out-patient clinics: a 27% increase in the number of these is planned
for the same period. There is also to be an expansion of maternity
and child health services, family planning and health education
programmes. Medical charges are minimal: HK$2 per visit to an
out-patient clinic, HK$5 per day for in-patient treatment at a
hospital. Even these fees are waived in cases of need. An
effective system of preventive medicine has been developed, to
the extent that diseases such as tuberculosis, poliomyelitis,
cholera and malaria, which were previously major causes of death
in Hong Kong, have now largely been brought under control. Infant
mortality, at 13.9 per 1,000 live births, is lower than in many
developed countries. A concerted programme by Government and
/voluntary
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