-3-
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. are plans for increasing the number of engineering graduates from Hong Kong University and also the number of graduates from the Technical College, but these modest increases do not alter the fact that if Hong Kong is to continue to make its way in the world, and so continue raising the standard of living of its people, it must now start making inroads into a shortfall of vocationally trained high level manpower: and as has been explained this probably runs into tens of thousands.
10.
There
The Technical College is already offering vocational courses at the post-secondary level. The number of students enrolled in these is shown in the following table :
Technical College Enrolment at the Post-secondary Level
Full time students
Part-time day release students Part-time evening students
1,400
400
6,400
/ In....
.
•800?