213
A Brief History of Technical Education in Hong Kong
Kong today. In the early 20th century it formed a department under the Director of Education. It had no building of its own but was housed in Queen's College,
then sited on Hollywood Road. In 1913 it entered a mere 161 candidates for local examinations of whom 116 passed. Subjects included shorthand, sanitation, building construction and field surveying. This first Technical Institute was
absorbed into the Hong Kong University when it opened in 1912.
Post-World War One
The development of technical education was nevertheless slow, But in
1926 the Salesian Roman Catholic Fathers, who have done so much over the
years to promote technical education, commenced shoemaking, carpentry, tailoring and printing courses and, at about the same time, the old Taikoo Dockyard in Quarry Bay started classes for their own apprentices.
In 1931, a committee was formed under the chairmanship of Sir William Hornell, then Vice-Chancellor of Hong Kong University, to consider the
possibility of introducing a system of technical education. The Report's three
main recommendations were:
* the setting up of a junior technical school,
* the provision of evening classes for apprentices, and
* the commencement of full-time classes at a later date.
As a result the Junior Technical School, Government's first venture into
full-time technical education, was up and running by 1932. This secondary school ran a comparatively narrow, four-year course designed mainly as pre-apprentice training for the engineering trades. I remember JTS, as it was usually called, in the mid 1950s in more or less that form, where the Headmaster, an Englishman,
was a pattern maker by trade and proud of it. For those who do not know, a
pattern maker was a craftsman who made timber moulds for metal castings in a
foundry. It was not until 1957, when the name was altered to Victoria Technical
213
A Brief History of fechnical Education in Hong Kong
Kong today. In the early 20th century it formed a department under the Director of Education. It had no building of its own but was housed in Queen's College,
then sited on Hollywood Road. In 1913 it entered a mere 161 candidates for local examinations of whom 116 passed. Subjects included shorthand, sanitation, building construction and field surveying. This first Technical Institute was
absorbed into the Hong Kong University when it opened in 1912.
Post-World War One
The development of technical education was nevertheless slow, But in
1926 the Salesian Roman Catholic Fathers, who have done so much over the
years to promote technical education, commenced shoemaking, carpentry, tailoring and printing courses and, at about the same time, the old Taikoo Dockyard in Quarry Bay started classes for their own apprentices.
In 1931, a committee was formed under the chairmanship of Sir William Hornell, then Vice-Chancellor of Hong Kong University, to consider the
possibility of introducing a system of technical education. The Report's three
main recommendations were:
* the setting up of a junior technical school,
* the provision of evening classes for apprentices, and
* the commencement of full-time classes at a later date.
As a result the Junior Technical School, Government's first venture into
full-time technical education, was up and running by 1932. This secondary school ran a comparatively narrow, four-year course designed mainly as pre-apprentice training for the engineering trades. I remember JTS, as it was usually called, in the mid 1950s in more or less that form, where the Headmaster, an Englishman,
was a pattern maker by trade and proud of it. For those who do not know, a
pattern maker was a craftsman who made timber moulds for metal castings in a
foundry. It was not until 1957, when the name was altered to Victoria Technical
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