ENG-1978 — Page 96

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EDUCATION

progress of these children is supervised regularly by the Special Education Section of the Education Department.

Preventive measures in the form of assessment and remedial services offered by the Special Education Section also expanded. The assessment services include audiometric, vision and speech screening in primary schools; audiological testing; psychological testing; speech testing; and educational assessment. Remedial services include speech and auditory training; speech therapy; adjustment groups; and teacher and parent counselling. These services are provided in two special education centres - one at the Sir Ellis Kadoorie Government Primary School, Sai Ying Pun, and the other at the Perth Street Government Primary School in Ho Man Tin. In the course of the year, these two centres dealt with 231,888 children, either individually or in groups.

The expansion of special education has necessitated an increased effort in the train- ing of specialist staff. Overseas' training is provided for the specialist staff of the Special Education Section and local in-service courses are run for teachers in special schools and special classes. In addition, short courses, seminars and workshops are organised by the Special Education Section for teachers in ordinary schools and for trainee- teachers at the colleges of education.

The Special Education Section also has a Chinese Braille Unit, which operates a braille printing press formerly used by the Government Printer. The unit produces primary Chinese textbooks and supplementary readers in braille, which are supplied to schools for the blind under government subsidy at one-tenth of the cost.

Secondary Education

There are four main types of secondary schools - Anglo-Chinese secondary schools, Chinese middle schools, secondary technical schools and prevocational schools. The 330 Anglo-Chinese grammar day schools have enrolments totalling 375,470. They offer a five-year course in a broad range of academic subjects leading to the Hong Kong Certificate of Education examination. The medium of instruction is mainly English, although prominence is given to Chinese subjects taught in Chinese. Successful Cer- tificate of Education candidates may enter a two-year sixth-form course to prepare for the Advanced Level Examination of the University of Hong Kong. They may also study for the United Kingdom General Certificate of Education at both ordinary and advanced levels.

The 104 Chinese middle schools accommodate 58,548 pupils. Pupils at these schools also take courses leading to the Hong Kong Certificate of Education examination. Instruction is in Chinese and English is taught as a second language. A number of Chinese middle schools also offer a one-year Middle 6 matriculation course to prepare pupils for entrance to the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

A total of 23 secondary technical schools provide courses for 16,104 pupils. Ten of these schools are run by the government, 12 are aided and one is private. Instruc- tion is in English with Chinese taught as a second language. Secondary technical establishments prepare their pupils for the Hong Kong Certificate of Education ex- amination but more emphasis is given to technical and commercial subjects. Suitable candidates can continue their studies in Form 6 or at technical institutes, the polytech- nic or the Technical Teachers' College.