Resettlement_Department_Annual_Report_1968-1969 — Page 39

EDUCATION

87. The resettlement estates, with their large concentrations of people, present both a great need and a great opportunity for welfare work of all descriptions. Voluntary agencies have, from the start, been quick to accept this challenge, and continue to seek fresh outlets for their activities as new estates are opened.

88. As was mentioned earlier, one of the first improvements to the Mark I blocks was to strengthen the flat roofs and to fence them in, thus providing additional recreational space. These roofs were then turned over for use as boys' and girls' clubs or primary schools, with penthouses added at either end. From the start, a nominal rent of $1 a month has been charged for these premises, and school fees are limited to a maximum of $90 a year for each pupil for a half-day and $120 a year for a full-day primary school (the fees normally being collected in 10 monthly instalments). Until 1965, the maximum fee was $60, the increase being approved to encourage the payment of higher salaries to the teachers and the provision of improved facilities so that some of the schools might qualify for a subsidy under the Education Department's subsidy code. At the end of March 1969 314 rooftops were used as schools.

89. But the rooftops were insufficient to meet the need for schools and welfare facilities in the early estates, and ground floor rooms in selected blocks of both the Mark I and Mark II designs were also reserved for these purposes and allocated to voluntary agencies. At present there are 46 ground floor schools in operation in these blocks, run as co-educational vernacular primary schools under the Education Department's subsidy code.

90. In the newer designs of resettlement block, structural limita- tions prevent the use of the rooftops for these purposes, and in the Mark IV and V estates it is also impossible to have schools on the ground floors. Specially modified top floor accommodation has therefore been provided for schools in a number of the Mark III blocks, while free-standing school buildings, each of six storeys and with 24 classrooms, have been built to serve the Mark IV and V blocks. Appendix 6 gives details of schools in estates.

91. During 1968-69, nearly 195,220 children were attending primary schools in estates. Although some of these are known to live else- where, the majority were resident in the estates. Equally some settlers'

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