UE Section E Task 1

Wah Fu College --- Yesterday and Today

The Aberdeen Kaifong Association began discussing ideas four years before the opening of the school. On December, 1964, it applied  to  the Government for land. In 1965, the piece of land was allocated to us to build the school. The Chairmen of the Aberdeen Kaifong Association started the school. However, a lot of difficulties were faced before its  opening. The waterfalls and rivers in Hong Kong made us do much  work to ensure  the strong foundations of the building. Then, the school opening date was delayed for three months because of the typhoon which caused flooding and flood damage. At last, all the problems were solved and the school was opened on 1^st December, 1967.

There are a lot of difference between the school in 1967 and today. In 1967, the school premises was located on the Victoria Road. Now, the school is situated on the Waterfall Bay Road since the movement on 9^th October, 1985. In the past, it was a single-storey building with limited facilities. There were only 7 classrooms for students. However, the school now is a multi-storey building. There are 32 classrooms and there is at least one computer in each classroom. The school now has many facilities.

Apart from the difference of school premises, the size and composition of the student body and the staff are much different now. In 1967, there were only 117 students and all were males. Over 70% of them were born in Hong Kong and over 20% were born in the Mainland China. There were only Form 1 and 2 in the 1^st year. There were 5 teachers in 1967 and Mr. Abraham Lee was the principal. Now, there are 986 students , ranging  from form 1 to form 7.  The ratio of boys to girls is equal. About 50% of students were  born in Hong Kong, over 20% were born in the Mainland China and about 20% of them were  born in other places. There are 60 teachers and we get a Native English-speaking teacher. Now, our principal is Mr. John Foo.

On top of that, the mission and the curriculum of the school is also different from the past. In 1967, many of the children in Aberdeen did not have a chance for education because of the fishing industry. Thus, the mission of Wah Fu College was to provide a chance for the children of families in the fishing trade to receive education. The school not only offered  them traditional education, but also some practical and vocational skills. At that time, the curriculum included arts, science and technical subjects. Now, the mission of the school is to provide quality education for the whole of Hong Kong and to get students to be well-prepared for modern workplace and knowledge-based society. Our curriculum includes arts, science, technical and business and IT subjects.

I do hope that you will be more familiar with our school and you can learn more about our college by visiting the Wah Fu College web site, http://www.wfc.edu.hk.