Department gave lectures on aspects of social work to officers in other Government departments, staff of voluntary agencies and recruits in the Police Force. Facilities for practical training were also provided for University and post-secondary college students as part of their courses.
14. Courses Abroad. Two members of the staff completed courses in the United Kingdom, one a two-year course on Child Welfare at the London School of Economics and Political Science and the other a four months' course on Probation Work. At the end of the year, 6 other members of the staff were taking courses abroad; one had been awarded a two-year scholarship by the Kennedy Foundation to take a course on the Education and Care of Mentally Retarded Children at the University of Illinois, while another was awarded a scholarship for the same period by the Hong Kong Junior Chamber of Commerce to take the Social Studies Course at the University of Malaya in Singapore; a third officer, who was taking a course at the University of Sydney, represented Hong Kong at the UNESCO Seminar on Youth Work for South East Asia countries.
CHAPTER IV
INFANT AND CHILD WELFARE
15. The number of babies found abandoned during the year was 205, very slightly less than in the previous year; all these were found places in babies' homes or orphanages. The probable reason for abandonment is sheer poverty in most cases, although physical or mental defect plays a part. Nearly all those abandoned are girls. Efforts to trace the parents of these children rarely succeed, but in due course many of them are adopted into families in Hong Kong or abroad (see paragraphs 18 to 20 below).
16. For the better care of infants by their mothers, The Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children maintains five infant welfare centres, where nutritious food and medical treatment are given to babies up to the age of 18 months, and advice on feeding, hygiene, etc. to their mothers. The Society also runs two crêches where undernourished babies are nursed back to health. Some 32,000 babies benefited from the Society's work during the year. Another infant welfare centre is run by the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception.
17. The demand for female labour in the factories has intensified during the year and has tended to attract women from domestic service
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