ENG-1946 — Page 73

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Evening classes for adults were carried on under the aegis of the Evening Institute. Both technical and educational subjects were on the syllabus, classes being held in mechanical and electrical engineering, construction, shipbuilding, English, handwork and art, bookkeeping, shorthand and pharmacy.

The training of teachers was one of the most pressing problems with which the education authorities were concern- ed. To this end Government maintained the Northcote Training College for the training of teachers for urban schools both English and vernacular. The course of instruction covered a period of two years, and about 75 students were in training at a time.

The War.

The ravages of war and of the occupation were respon- sible for considerable damage being done to school buildings in the Colony. Among Government schools alone, the three largest, King's and Queen's Colleges and Belilios Girls' School as well as two others at Saiyingpun and Gap Road were com- pletely destroyed; on this count alone educational accommo- dation for 2,400 children was lost. This was not the sole material aspect of the damage wrought to the educational fabric of the Colony. There was a heavy loss of school books, and of equipment and furniture, much of which was used as firewood during the period of enemy occupation. Possibly more far-reaching in its effects was the great degree in which education was interrupted during the war years. So far as can be ascertained the largest number of pupils receiving education at any time during the Japanese occupation was less than one-tenth of the 1941 total of 120,000, and the number had shrunk by August, 1945, to as little as 3,000.

This un- fortunate state of affairs was reflected in the serious increase in juvenile delinquency which was observed in the months following the liberation of the Colony. The gravity of this increase lent urgency to the efforts of the education authorities to repair the Colony's educational structure.

A further spur

to their efforts, if one were needed, was provided by the great demand from all quarters for the provision of adequate education.

Rehabilitation.

The Grant Schools were found to be in satisfactory order since they had been in continuous occupation during the war. With considerable assistance from Government twelve of them, with an enrolment of 6,000, were in normal operation by the middle of October, 1945, and by the end of that month an additional 52 private and 4 Government schools opened providing educational facilities for a further 12,000 children. From that date there was a steady expansion of the educa- tional facilities provided and the number of pupils in schools steadily increased. To assist in this process a system of hous- ing two schools in one building was adopted, one session

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