ENG-1957 — Page 169

142

HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT

private night schools. Enrolment in government institutions

was as follows:

Technical College Evening Classes

Evening School of Higher Chinese Studies

Evening Institute

Evening Institute Rural Groups

4,075

229

2,336

733

Four Adult Education and Recreation Centres provide elementary background education, classes in English, wood- work, housecraft, sewing, knitting, as well as literacy classes. These Centres also provide for such activities as table tennis, basketball, physical training, Chinese chess, film shows, shadow-boxing and the more sophisticated recreations of musical appreciation, drama and photography. Nominal fees are charged for specific instructional courses but not for recreational and group activities. These adult education centres now have their own Bulletin. The total number of members at the four centres was 3,524 at the end of 1957, and the average nightly attendance for recreational activities was 120 - 150 at each centre.

Music, Drama and the Arts occupy an important place in the school curriculum and in extra-curricular activities. The 1957 Schools' Music Festival attracted 1,592 entries, which included 172 choir entries. There was an increase of over 21% in the number of candidates entering for the examina- tions of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, bringing the total this year to 1,369 for the practical and 529 for the theoretical examinations. The adjudicators in the Inter-School Dramatic Competition reported an improvement in the quality of school performances, which reflected credit on teachers of the spoken word in English and Cantonese. Art exhibitions in schools were very popular and reflect the fact that the Colony is a meeting place of the cultural ideas of the East and the West. The schools contributed in various ways to the Hong Kong Festival of the Arts where the school art exhibition was an encouraging feature. (See also Chapter 20).