1966 — Page 253

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into this thoroughly and formulate more definite plans, since 1968 is only just another year ahead, to be put forward to the Resettlement Management Select Committee for consideration.

COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-Certainly, Mr. Chairman, although I think myself it will probably be late 1968 before there is any accommodation ready for occupation, and it rather suggests that action need not be quite as immediate as Mr. CHEONG-LEEN suggested.

MR. CHEONG-LEEN:---I am not so sure about that, Mr. Chairman, because we are trying to improve the facilities in all our new estates, so in addition to levelling up the facilities in new estates, we do want to make additional facilities available so that there can be further decantation from the old Shek Kip Mei estate. I hope the Commissioner can keep that point in mind.

COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT: ----Certainly.

(4) MR. HILTON CHEONG-LEEN asked the following question:-

As of the end of September, 1966, there were 19,000 children of primary school age not attending school in resettlement estates, which represents 8.2% of primary school age children in the estates; can the Commissioner for Resettlement:

(1) Advise how many children between the ages of 6-8 are there who are not going to school?

(2) Request the Education Department to take urgent steps to put children in this age group immediately into a school, since any delay would obviously mean that this age group would have little or no chance for any schooling at all?

THE COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT replied as follows:-

(a) The answer to the first part of the question is that, at the end of September 1966, there were about 60,000 children between the ages of 6 and 8 living in urban resettlement estates. Of these, about 52,000 were attending school and 8,000 were not.

(b) The answer to the second part of the question is that the Education Department has no powers to "put" children of any age into school. However, children living in resettlement estates have priority for admission to Government schools near to estates and subsidized schools in them, and children from outside are only admitted when vacancies are not taken up by residents.

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MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Mr. Chairman, since it is quite obvious that the 8,000 children referred to in paragraph (a) of the reply will not be able to enter the school system if they are not put into school this year, can the Commissioner put it to the Education Department that, while they have no powers to put children into school, they could at least make more positive efforts to investigate the case of these children to see that they get into a school.

COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT: -I do not know, Mr. Chairman, whether I can accept the implication that the Education Department is not taking positive steps.

MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-I thought all the work to encourage these children to get into school, Mr. Chairman, was being done by the Resettlement Department by the posting up of notices and so on. Can the Commissioner confirm that?

COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-Mr. Chairman, no, we receive quite a lot of assistance from the Education Department even on these matters.

MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Well, the fact that there are still 8,000 children between the ages of 6 to 8 not in school means that the Education Department is not making a positive enough effort, and I would like to ask the Commissioner, since he is responsible for the general well-being of the population in our resettlement estates, would he be prepared to arrange for a meeting of representatives of the Education Department, the Council of Social Service and with the members of the Management Select Committee of our Resettlement Estates to go into this problem more thoroughly?

COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-I can certainly put that suggestion to the Director of Education, Mr. Chairman. I think one factor which gives rise to this relatively high figure of 8,000 is that the area of greatest pressure on school places is, in fact, in the classes of the first two years.

DR. BELL: Mr. Chairman, may I ask a supplementary? The 8,000 who are not at school, is it because they have not got 8,000 school places?

COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT: -As I said earlier, there is maximum pressure for places in the Junior 1 and Junior 2 classes. I think in looking at this figure of 8,000, one must bear in mind that you are looking at an overall figure for some 14 or 15 estates. There may be vacancies in some estates and not in others, and that the location of vacancies does not always coincide with the location of children not attending school. As an indication of the full use that is being made of Junior 1 and Junior 2 classes, I understand that in 16 urban estates

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