ENG-1988 — Page 143

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EDUCATION

Institute of Language in Education. All other schools, with minor exceptions, are required to be registered under the Education Ordinance and to comply with its requirements.

Schools which receive financial assistance from the government under the codes of aid are in addition subject to the provisions of these codes, which deal with matters like general administration, grants, staffing, and conditions of service. Inspectors of the Education Department pay regular visits to all these schools to ensure that acceptable standards are maintained. Institutions registered under the Post Secondary Colleges Ordinance are also supervised by the Director of Education.

In addition to these duties of supervision and control, the department has major responsibilities in the area of educational development. It continued to be heavily engaged in implementing new policies arising from recommendations of the Education Commission, in particular, language improvement measures and the extension of a standard two-year Sixth Form to all types of secondary school.

Through its Advisory Inspectorate, the department provides advice to schools on teaching methods, and plays an important part in curriculum development. Other major aspects of the department's work include the provision of educational television and other services, implementation of the school building programme, school place allocation and educational research.

To improve educational services and in keeping with the district administration system, the Education Department has divided Hong Kong into 17 educational districts, each headed by a senior education officer whose function is to supervise the administration of schools within the district, to provide advice and assistance to schools, teachers, parents and students, and to act as a channel of communication between them and the department. Senior education officers also attend district board meetings to assist with discussion on educational matters.

Expenditure

The annual estimate of expenditure for educational services in the financial year beginning in April 1988 provided for $1,240 million in capital expenditure for educational projects and $10,020 million in recurrent expenditure, representing 18 per cent of the total budget.

Kindergartens

In September 1988, there were 814 kindergartens providing pre-primary education for 214 703 children in the three-to-five age group. All kindergartens are privately operated, but an increasing number, especially in the recently-completed public housing estates, are operated by non-profit-making oganisations. Apart from allocating premises to non- profit-making kindergarten operators in public housing estates, the government provides assistance for this level of education in the form of rent and rates reimbursement for non-profit-making kindergartens, and fee assistance to needy parents.

Officers of the department are responsible for supervising kindergartens and offering professional advice to school managers, teachers, parents and the public. For basic professional training, a two-year, part-time day-release course and a 12-week, part-time evening course are conducted by Grantham College of Education, while an identical 12-week part-time day-release course is operated by the Advisory Inspectorate of the Education Department. In addition, the Kindergarten Section of the Advisory Inspectorate organises seminars, workshops and exhibitions to help heads and teachers improve their standards.