Social_Welfare_Annual_Report_1961-1962 — Page 12

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17. In addition to the regular Certificate and Diploma courses, the University conducts extra-mural courses from time to time. 89 depart- mental officers took such courses during the year on subjects such as social work, child psychology, library technique and the social and psychological aspects of crime. In addition to the facilities offered by the University of Hong Kong, regular courses in sociology with varying degrees of social work content are given at four Post-Secondary Colleges. A total of 113 students were enrolled in these courses at the end of the year and 65 students completed courses during 1961.

18. The programme of special courses conducted by the Department and various voluntary organizations continued. In co-operation with the Hong Kong Council of Social Service, the Department conducted a 9-month introductory course in social work for 19 students who were either employees of voluntary agencies or young people leaving the secondary schools. The second 9-month course in basic child care was attended by 40 students who had completed secondary education. Competition for these courses was very keen; there were 300 applicants for the introductory course and over 400 applicants for the basic child. care course; towards the end of March 1962 the students of both courses were about to undertake their final field work assignments. In May 1961 the Department co-operated with three voluntary agencies concerned with the institutional care of children in the conduct of an in-service training course for 44 house-parents from 10 children's homes; 40 of them successfully completed the course. In November, 53 officers of the Department, mostly new recruits, participated in an 8-week part-time orientation course designed to familiarize them with the functions of the Department and its relationships with voluntary organi- zations. During the year a number of voluntary agencies also operated a variety of in-service training courses for their staff.

19. 6 members of the Department completed courses overseas during the year. 4 of these were academic courses at universities, in Social Studies at Singapore, in Social Welfare Administration at Swansea, in Community Development and Adult Education at London and in Education of the Mentally Handicapped at Illinois; the other 2 courses were specially arranged, one by the Royal Commonwealth Society for the Blind in Blind Welfare and the other in the training and employ- ment of the physically handicapped in Britain and the United States of America. The Principal Officer (Youth Welfare) attended the Asian Seminar on Planning and Administration of National Community Development Programmes (sponsored jointly by the U.N. Bureau of

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