ENG-1954 — Page 121

Chapter 8

Education

In 1946 there were just under 60,000 students of all types studying in the Colony: today there are about 250,000. Unsettled conditions in China and the conse- quent influx of refugees, the political stability of the Colony, the increasing birthrate and decline in the infant mortality rate have between them enlarged the Colony's population and increased the number of children requiring primary education each year.

When the Colony was reoccupied in 1945 it was found that most of the existing school buildings and equipment would have to be renewed. This in itself involved much work but when the need for increasing and extending educational facilities for a growing school population was taken into account, the task became

enormous.

In 1951 Government gave its approval to a 5 year plan for the building of new Government schools, allow- ing a capital expenditure of one and a half million dollars for each of the five years. Three-quarters of the school population finishes its education at the primary school stage. The emphasis has therefore been on the expansion of primary school education rather than secondary and higher education. Since 1946 the number of places in primary schools has increased from 53,518 to nearly 170,000.

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