TNAG-0968-FCO40-1187-Development-of-social-policy-in-Hong-Kong-1980 — Page 5

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Introduction

LAST PAPER

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RECEIVED IN REGISTRY NO. 51

SOCIAL SERVICES IN HONG KONG 2 4 JUL 1980

DESK OFFICER

INDEX

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ASCISTRY

Action Taken

Aw 24h

This brief covers the provision of services in the fields of education, medical and health, social welfare and labour but excludes housing. Estimated expenditure on these services for 1979/80 is $4,142.5 million or 28.8% of the estimated total Government expenditure. The four major Government departments reasponsible for these services, the Education, Medical and Health, Social Welfare and Labour Departments, have expenditure budgets for the 1979/80 financial year of $2,233.2 million, $1,149.8 million, $696 million and $63.5 million respectively. The graph at the appendix shows the growth of social services expenditure since 1970/71.

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The Secretary for Social Services heads the Social Services Branch, which is the policy branch in the Government Secretariat responsible generally for formulating and implementing policies in these programme areas, in concert with the departments concerned, and for ensuring that the best value is obtained from the resources allocated to these services. The Branch is also responsible for the policy aspects, and co-ordination of rehabilitation services, which are provided by all four of the major departments in the social services sphere.

A. EDUCATION

Introduction

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During the past two decades, the Government's main priority in the development of education in Hong Kong has been the progressive extension of the period cf universal subsidised education. The first aim was to make primary education available to all. The White raper of 1965 outlined a scheme for providing subsidised primary school places for all who wanted them. By 1971 there were sufficient primary school places for all children in the age-group; measures were then taken to make primary education compulsory and free (except in English-speaking schools). The main proposal in the 1974 White Faper was to extend universal education to the junior secondary forms. 1978 saw the introduction of nine years' free schooling for every child (excepting English-speaking schools see paragraphs 19-20). In 1979, the Director of Education's powers to enforce school attendance were extended to cover children up the age of 14; they will be further extended in September 1980 to cover all children up to the 15th birthday, who have not completed Form III.

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