ENG-1986 — Page 146

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EDUCATION

Apprenticeship contracts registered in 1986 totalled 4 500, of which 900 were for non-designated trades. These contracts cover 3 800 craft apprentices and 700 technician apprentices. By the end of the year, 9 400 apprentices were being trained.

Vocational Training for the Disabled

The provision of vocational training for the disabled continued to expand during the year as more places were offered with the completion of the new Pinehill Village Advanced Training Centre reprovisioning project at Tai Po. This brought the total number of training places in both government and subvented centres to about 720. At the same time the number of residential places in subvented centres was increased to 214. Development of training programmes placed emphasis on the inculcation of social skills, particularly in mentally handicapped trainees. In addition, over 120 disabled students followed a wide variety of courses at both craft and technician levels in the technical institutes. Supportive services were provided to them during their course of study.

During the year 300 persons completed vocational assessment at the Vocational Assessment Centre and, in response to requests from disabled students, trainees and employees, over 40 special aids and machine adaptations were produced by the Technical Aids and Resource Centre.

An employment survey of disabled leavers from the skills centres and the technical institutes conducted at the beginning of the year showed that 73 per cent of the survey group found employment in the government, industrial or commercial sectors.

Teacher Preparation

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Grantham, General teacher training is provided at the three Colleges of Education Northcote and Sir Robert Black - and at the Hong Kong Technical Teachers' College. All four colleges are administered by the Education Department.

The three general Colleges of Education offer a two-year full-time course of initial teacher training to students possessing the required Hong Kong Advanced Level Examina- tion qualifications and a three-year full-time course to students with the required Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination qualifications. The Colleges of Education also conduct in-service training courses, including a one-year full-time Advanced Course of Teacher Education for teachers of practical and cultural subjects, retraining courses of seven-to-eight weeks duration for teachers in primary and secondary schools, and two-to- three year part-time courses for serving teachers in kindergartens, primary and secondary schools and for teachers of students with special educational needs. In September, there were 1336 students in the three-year full-time course, 981 students in the two-year full-time course, 91 students in the Advanced Course of Teacher Education, and a total of 2 071 students in the in-service training and retraining courses.

Technical teacher training is offered by the Hong Kong Technical Teachers' College for future teachers of technical subjects in secondary and prevocational schools. A one-year full-time course is available to mature students who are well qualified in a technical field and wish to take up technical teaching as a career. Grants are offered to attract suitable recruits. A three-year full-time course is open to secondary school leavers who have prior studies in either technical or commercial subjects. The college also offers in-service courses for teachers and a variety of short courses for instructors working with the handicapped and supervisors and instructors employed in industry. In September, there were 165 students in the full-time courses and 137 students in the part-time and short courses.