Northcote Training College, named after the then Hong Kong Governor, Sir Geoffry Alexander Stafford Northcote, KCMG, is established as the first formal full-time teacher training institution. The opening of the campus at Bonham Road signifies a major milestone in the history of teacher education in Hong Kong.

The establishment of Grantham Training College responds to the surge in demand for professional teachers resulting from the population increase caused by the influx of immigrants from the mainland and by rising birth rates.

The launch of a 7-year primary school building programme in 1954 further increases demand for primary and lower secondary school teachers. Sir Robert Black Training College is established as the third training college.

Northcote, Grantham and Sir Robert Black Training Colleges are renamed as Colleges of Education.

 

Hong Kong is developing quickly into a major industrial and commercial centre. Teacher education in Hong Kong witnesses not only a growing demand for greater numbers but also a wider variety of teachers. The Hong Kong Technical Teachers' College is established to provide courses for teachers of technical and commercial subjects in secondary and prevocational schools.

The Institute of Language in Education is established to improve the teaching of Chinese and English as subjects and the use of these languages across the curriculum.

The Education Commission in its Fifth Report recommends the amalgamation of Northcote College of Education, Grantham College of Education, Sir Robert Black College of Education, Hong Kong Technical Teachers' College and the Institute of Language in Education to become an autonomous Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd).