ENG-1958 — Page 143

EDUCATION

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for teachers qualified as primary school teachers. A special course of training for kindergarten teachers has been organized for twenty teachers. The total enrolment for full-time training college courses in 1958-9 was 695, and for in-service training courses for un- qualified teachers was 531. In all, 13,334 teachers were in service at the end of September 1958.

A Professional Teachers' Training Board is responsible for dealing with general matters regarding teacher training and advises on the integration of teacher training in government training colleges and the University.

Voluntary education and welfare work is carried out by a wide variety of bodies in Hong Kong. The Kaifong or Neighbourhood Welfare Associations provide free schooling for poor children, and the British Red Cross Society organizes hospital schools for crippled children. There are schools for the deaf, for the blind and for lepers, orphanages, and homes for maladjusted children, while the Po Leung Kuk provides free schooling for the homeless young women and children in its care (See also Chapter 11).

Other agencies which form part of the educational pattern include the Y.M.C.A., Y.W.C.A., the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, the Boys' and Girls' Clubs Association, the Children's Playground Association, the Boy Scouts' and Girl Guides' Associa- tions and the Rotary Clubs.

In co-operation with the Social Welfare Department, the Educa- tion Department works closely with voluntary agencies of this kind and is represented on the recently established Mental Health Association of Hong Kong. It is also closely associated with the Medical Department in the sphere of health education, and, in the professional sphere, with the Hong Kong Teachers' Association.

Libraries are maintained by the British Council, the United States Information Service, the local Chambers of Commerce, a number of Government departments including the Education Department, and the University of Hong Kong; access to the University and official libraries is restricted. Books, pamphlets, journals and visual-aid material are distributed by the Public Relations Office, the British Council, various consular authorities and commercial agencies. The British Council, whose activities are also described in Chapter 20, administers certain post-graduate