douglas college
Inter Office Memo Date: _October 10, 1985

 

To: Mad Hatter

From: Gordon Gilgan
Re: _ Article for Inclusion in Next Issue

INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION

MEETING: Therese Shak, the head of the Adult Education section
of Caritas of Hong Kong as been invited to meet members of the
college community to explore working relationships we might
develop. Ms. Shak will be in the Board Room Wednesday, October
23, 1985 from 3:00-4:00 p.m. The information that follows explains
briefly the nature of Caritas and the reasons for calling this
meeting.

Caritas started in 1958, as a small social service agency,
sponsored by the Catholic Church International Charities (Caritas).

Because of the unique nature of Hong Kong, and the social stresses
resulting from events on mainland China, Caritas burgeoned, and
is now an enormous education, health, and social services
organization, financed primarily by the colonial government and
to a lesser extent by the Catholic Church and user fees.

Service activities include a social services organization which
provides youth services, services to the elderly, rehabilitation
services, sheltered workshop for retarded adults, and hospital
services. It operates a major general hospital, and a _ large
hotel, which serves as a profit center while servicing short
term clients of Caritas.

Its educational branch has grown greatly in the past fifteen
years, and now provides programs for children, youth and adults
from primary to lower division university level and technical
programs. Its schools include technical, technological and
academic training, vocational, community education, and special
needs education for the retarded. Its "adult" division provides
education to the school leaving certificate (British "O Level”
or "University Entrance" standard), as well as a wide range of
technical vocational and technological programs such as are offered
in community colleges in North America. Its instructional programs
do not include instruction in the health area or in social
services, even though Caritas is a major provider of both services
to the general public.