CONFIDENTIAL
機密
XCC(75)42
4
represented, little improvement is likely unless a separate organisation were set up to carry out this task.
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As regards (c): the Hartwell Committee considered that centralising examinations under one authority should lead to greater cost-effectiveness, to be achieved partly through standardising pro- cedures and partly through the pooling of limited and specialised human and technical resources. The benefits to be gained through such processes are perhaps self-evident.
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There are, of course, certain snags to setting up an Inde- pendent Examinations Authority. For instance, a reference has been made to the Director's earlier reservations about the likely loss of control over educational practice and the dangers of examination syllabuses falling out of line with what is taught in schools. These problems can, however, be solved and they are discussed at greater length later in this memorandum.
Proposals for setting up the IEA
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The Director of Education and the Secretary for Social Services have formulated a number of proposals and guiding principles for setting up the IEA. Most of these either add to or differ from the Hartwell Committee's recommendations,
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Outline Plan for Action and Timing. The Hartwell Committee recommended setting up the IEA in one step with a draft constitution spelt out in some detail. Except for an oblique reference to the probable need for statutory backing, the Committee's report is silent, however, on the steps required to be taken before the IEA is set up. It is now proposed to set up the IEA in two stages lasting six months and up to two years respectively. During the first stage the Education Depart- ment and the Secretariat would need to complete plans for creating a Provisional Examinations Authority (PEA). It would be necessary to:
(a)
draft an enabling bill for the PEA;
(b) establish the bases upon which the existing indirect
subsidy (largely represented by the salaries and administrative overheads of the Examinations Division) is converted into a direct subsidy; and
(c)
make arrangements for seconding staff from the Education Department, the universities and else- where for service with the PEA.
CONFIDENTIAL #2