File GCE/6 - Records related to Education Commission Report No.5 (ECR5)

The Grantham Training College was founded in September 1951 to focus on the training of primary school teachers. The College operated in the King’s College campus at Bonham Road for one year, and then moved to the Gascoigne Road premises. At that time, only 61 places were available. After completing the one-year full-time program, students could obtain a Teacher Certificate.

In 1953, the College's enrollment increased to 150 students, including 25 boarding students from the Rural Training College (a sister institution that later merged with the Grantham Training College).

In 1960, to cope with the ever-increasing needs for teacher training, the Hong Kong Government further established a third college in the site of the Lo Fu Ngam Primary School as an extension of Grantham. One year later, the new college became independent and was renamed Sir Robert Black Training College.

The Grantham Training College was renamed Grantham College of Education in 1967. By 1982, Grantham obtained an annexe – a commercial building in Mongkok. Following the recommendation by the Education Commission in its Report No. 5 (1992) and the passage of the Hong Kong Institute of Education Ordinance through the Legislative Council of Hong Kong in March 1994, five pre-existing teacher education institutions including Grantham College of Education were merged to form the Hong Kong Institute of Education on 25 April 1994. The College’s two campuses at Gascoigne Road and Argyle Centre, known as Grantham Campus I and Grantham Campus II, remained in use until the Institute moved to its new Tai Po Campus in October 1997. However, the former Grantham Campus I in Gascoigne Road was the only building retained for use as the Institute’s Town Centre, where courses for part-time students and practising teachers were operated due to its convenient location.