ENG-1971 — Page 117

6

Education

A MILESTONE in the development of education in Hong Kong was reached in 1971 with the introduction of free primary education in all government schools (except the five English language schools) and the majority of aided primary schools; a new post-primary education policy which aims at giving three years of aided education to all children in the 12 to 14 age group; educational television; and a form of compulsory primary education. ⇒

This last provision is embodied in the Education Ordinance 1971 which came into operation on September 30. It gives the Director of Education powers to order parents to send their children to school where it appears to him that they are withholding their children from primary school without reasonable excuse. Provision exists for parents to appeal, if they wish, to a specially constituted board of review. The ordinance also revises, in some respects, the procedures to be followed for the registration of managers and schools to reflect the development and changes which have taken place in education in Hong Kong since the enactment of the previous Education Ordin- ance in 1952.

Under the Education Ordinance, the Director of Education is responsible for all matters relating to education in Hong Kong. He directly controls all government schools, while all other schools with very few exceptions are required to be registered under the ordinance. This provides the Director with the necessary powers to ensure that acceptable standards are maintained. The Director is also chairman of the Board of Education which advises the Governor on educational matters.

One of the main features of education continues to be its steady expansion. Detailed figures are given in Appendix 28. At the end of September, enrolment in primary schools was 764,313 and in secondary schools it was 295,820, compared with 765,397 and 279,318 respectively in 1970. Altogether 1,268,660 pupils were enrolled in 2,861 schools, colleges and education centres, 28,120 more than last year. The slight drop in primary school enrolments has been attributed to the decline in the annual birth rate in the Colony over the past eight years.