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6.
High level vocational education may be defined as training at the post-secondary level designed to fit persons for industrial or commercial occupations in the middle and higher level management range. It can cover an extremely large number of subjects. Items of possible interest to Hong Kong are:
building technology, surveying, civil and structural engineering;
business administration and management;
personnel management;
commerce and accountancy;
electrical engineering, radio and electronics;
heating, ventilation, refrigeration and f'an engineering;
horology (clocks and watches) and instrument technology;
hotel and catering management;
transport and tourism;
industrial and commercial design;
salesmanship;
journalism;
mechanical, production, traffic and marine engineering; nautical studies (e.g. Master's Certificate);
pharmacy and industrial chemistry;
printing technology;
textile and wool technology.
There is also of course an urgent need to train teachers in these and other subjects.
7.
In considering these points it is necessary to bear in mind that there is little to be gained by teaching simple or even complicated techniques in isolation from more general problems and from an understanding of the ways in which these have to be used in practice. A straightforward industrial technologist therefore needs to understand some of the practical issues of financing, marketing and staff control involved in business life, and an accountant and sales manager need to know something of production and similar problems. It is the essence of the Polytechnic argument that these extremely important ancillary subjects can be taught at the proper level to a wide range of people studying in sometimes very different conditions. This cannot be done in the relatively limited Technical College which we now have and neither can it be done in either of the Universities. This is the basic case for a Polytechnic.
8.
In Hong Kong some of the subjects listed are already covered in part either by higher diploma courses at the Technical College or by the Universities. Hong Kong University for instance offers bachelor degree courses in architecture and in civil, electrical and mechanical engineering, and The Chinese University of Hong Kong offers a bachelor degree course in journalism and a graduate course in business administration.
In addition, both Universities have extra-mural departments which offer some related
courses.
9.
Although the two Universities do already therefore contribute to higher vocational education, their main effort is likely to continue to lie in the provision of degree courses in academic disciplines having less vocational content, and generally less directly related to particular occupations 'in industry and commerce. There is, in other words, a need to provide, outside the Universities, expanded facilities for post-secondary vocational education with particular emphasis on the needs of commerce and industry, and also to the requirement for teacher training in vocational subjects. There are plans for increasing the number of engineering
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