ENG-1956 — Page 75

OCCUPATIONS, WAGES AND LABOUR ORGANIZATION

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to the Ordinance may be desirable, and these are at present being studied.

During the year 4,627 non-fatal and fatal accident cases were dealt with, and a total of $1,362,317 was paid as com- pensation.

Industrial Training. Craft apprenticeship within the Government service is provided by the Kowloon-Canton Railway, the Public Works Department in its electrical, mechanical and waterworks branches, the Stores Department in its workshops, and by the Printing Department. Vocation- al training classes for coxswains and engineers are operated by the Marine Department for government employees, and by the Fisheries Division of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry for fishermen.

A second group of apprentices started work in September in the Public Works Department and the Kowloon-Canton Railway under the new scheme of recruitment and training which was introduced in 1955. Apprentices are selected by means of examination and interviews; they are required to sign indentures, and attendance at supplementary technical classes is compulsory; the boys are released from the work- shop one whole day a week to attend classes at the Hong Kong Technical College and, in their own time, attend classes two evenings a week.

Apprenticeship training schemes are operated by H.M. Dockyard, the Taikoo Dockyard and Engineering Co., Ltd., the Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock Co., Ltd., by the public utilities, and by a number of other European and Chinese firms. Encouragement is given by these concerns to apprentices to attend technical classes, and financial help towards fees is very often given. Some large spinning and weaving mills have apprenticeship schemes for mechanics or junior engineers; in certain cases recruitment is by com- petitive examination and the mills provide classes on their own premises in both technical and general educational subjects.

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