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An increasing population and rising standards of prosperity gave impetus to the growth of technical education. In 1953, the Technical Education Investigating Committee (the Burt Report) concluded that a technical college in Kowloon was essential.1 The Chinese Manufacturers' Association offered to donate one million dollars towards a new college if Government would provide a similar sum and a site. The Administration accepted the offer and the College commenced classes on its Hung Hom campus in November 1957.16
In the 1947/48 academic year there were 25 full-time and 599 part-time students on the roll of the Technical College. By the time the College moved to Kowloon in November 1957, these figures had increased to 345 full-time and 5,532 part-time students.7 With the help of donations the Technical College expanded rapidly. New buildings were added which included an all-purpose hall, a dyeing and finishing block, a new electrical laboratory, another workshop block (for construction as well as electrical and mechanical trades), and a heavy-current workshop as well as a library, a textile workshop block, and a new classroom wing. It was estimated in 1967 that, of the total building costs of approximately $7.5 million, some $4.8 million (64 per cent) had been donated. Similarly $2.4 million (40 per cent) had been given towards the cost, or was the estimated value, of the donated equipment out of a total value of $6 million.
During the 1960s the Technical College was mainly preoccupied with technician level work, but it also ran courses for technologists (professional) and a limited number at craft level. Most of this development took place under the direction of S.J.G. Burt, who had joined the Trade School in 1938 and was Principal of the College from 1951 to 1963 when he became a full-time technical education adviser to the World Bank. The late Sydney Burt has frequently been regarded as the "grandfather" of technical education in Hong Kong.
The Principal and staff of the College had long felt an institution was required which would concentrate on craft and technician courses. This is the main reason why the first technical institute (of which the author was the first principal) came into being in 1969. It occupied borrowed premises for one year, at the Technical College at Hung Hom, and moved to its new building, at Morrison Hill, in 1970.
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An increasing population and rising standards of prosperity gave impetus to the growth of technical education. In 1953, the Technical Education Investigating Committee (the Burt Report) concluded that a technical college in Kowloon was essential.' The Chinese Manufacturers' Association offered to donate one million dollars towards a new college if Government would provide a similar sum and a site. The Administration accepted the offer and the College commenced classes on its Hung Hom campus in November 1957.16
In the 1947/48 academic year there were 25 full-time and 599 part- time students on the roll of the Technical College. By the time the College moved to Kowloon in November 1957, these figures had increased to 345 full-time and 5,532 part-time students." With the help of donations the Technical College expanded rapidly. New buildings were added which included an all-purpose hall, a dyeing and finishing block, a new electrical laboratory, another workshop block (for construction as well as electrical and mechanical trades), and a heavy-current workshop as well as a library, a textile workshop block, and a new classroom wing. It was estimated in 1967 that, of the total building costs of approximately $7.5 million, some $4.8 million (64 per cent) had been donated. Similarly $2.4 million (40 per cent) had been given towards the cost, or was the estimated value, of the donated equipment out of a total value of $6 million.
During the 1960s the Technical College was mainly preoccupied with technician level work, but it also ran courses for technologists (professional) and a limited number at craft level. Most of this development took place under the direction of S.J.G. Burt, who had joined the Trade School in 1938 and was Principal of the College from 1951 to 1963 when he became a full-time technical education adviser to the World Bank. The late Sydney Burt has frequently been regarded as the "grandfather' of technical education in Hong Kong.
The Principal and staff of the College had long felt an institution was required which would concentrate on craft and technician courses. This is the main reason why the first technical institute (of which the author was the first principal) came into being in 1969. It occupied borrowed premises for one year, at the Technical College at Hung Hom, and moved to its new building, at Morrison Hill, in 1970.
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