ENG-1987 — Page 152

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EDUCATION

management of public donations received in his memory. Accordingly, an enabling ordinance was enacted and the fund brought into being on April 1, 1987.

The moneys and assets of the fund stood at over $85 million as at July 31 and donations are still being received. It is managed by the Board of Trustees of the Fund consisting of Lady Youde and four prominent Hong Kong people.

In accordance with Lady Youde's wishes, it has been provided in law that the income of the fund is to be used for promoting the education and learning of the people of Hong Kong and encouraging research activities.

The uses of the income of the fund are determined by the Council of the fund which consists of Lady Youde and six prominent Hong Kong people. For the 1987-8 academic year, the council awarded 19 fellowships to post-graduate research students at the two local universities and the Hong Kong Polytechnic, 60 scholarships to final year students at all five local tertiary institutions, and 462 prizes to senior students in local secondary schools. These awards were made on the basis of nominations by heads of the tertiary institutions and secondary school principals followed by interviews by the council as appropriate. The total amount of awards given was about $2 million.

In addition to the local awards, the council has also announced a scheme of overseas scholarships and fellowships, to enable deserving students to pursue undergraduate or post-graduate education in overseas institutions for 1988-9. Applications have been invited and are being processed and it is estimated that the expenditure involved will be about $1.5 million.

Technical Education

With-the completion of Chai Wan Technical Institute in July 1987, the number of technical institutes in Hong Kong rose to eight. These provide courses at craft and technician levels with full-time, block-release, part-time day-release and part-time evening attendance. A large number of short courses are also offered and these are mainly designed to update the knowledge and skills of people in employment.

The main disciplines covered by the institutes include: applied science, clothing, commercial studies, computing studies, construction, design, electrical engineering, general studies, hotel-keeping and tourism studies, industrial technology, marine engineering and fabrication, mechanical engineering, motor vehicle engineering, printing and textiles. New courses offered by the Chai Wan Technical Institute include environmental studies and food technology. Most technician level courses have been validated by the United Kingdom Business and Technician Education Council and students attending these courses are able to register for the council's awards.

The demand for places on most courses remained high. Enrolments for the 1987-8 academic year totalled 10 000 full-time, 14 000 part-time day and 2 800 part-time evening students. In September 1987, the number of full-time teaching staff in the technical institutes was 783 and there were some 711 supporting staff.

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Each technical institute has on average 70 computer work-stations comprising ter- minals linked to medium-scale computers and microcomputers. In addition, computer- aided design and drafting facilities have been installed in the technical institutes. These enable the study of computer appreciation and application to be included in most

courses.

The annual employment survey of graduates from full-time courses again showed that they had little difficulty in finding employment in their respective disciplines after comple- tion of their studies.