2.4
In addition to the new technical institutes opening in 1977 and 1979, a sixth technical institute will be built at Tuen Mun, if this is justified by the support given by industry to the earlier institutes and if a local institute is required to support the developing industries in the vicinity of Tuen Mun. A common credit unit system between technician programmes of study at the technical institutes and the Polytechnic will be developed and this will assist mobility between institutions.
2.5
The Government will continue the policy, derived from the 1974 White Paper, of providing a subsidised Lower Sixth place (with progression to Upper Form VI in schools which have a two year sixth form structure), for up to one third of students entering subsidised Form IV places two years previously. On this basis, a subsidised Lower Form VI place will be available for more than 8% of the relevant population in 1981 and nearly 20% in 1986. The proportion of students in the age group proceeding to courses of tertiary education that are provided by or wholly subvented by the Government will nearly double over the next decade.
2.6
The normal minimum standard of entry to Form VI should be 3 subjects at grade 'C' in the Certificate of Education Examination. The Government is considering the implementation of the proposals it issued for public comment concerning the development of a common two year sixth form course leading to a common matriculation examination, and will consult the Board of Education before final decisions are taken.
2.7
The colleges registered under the Post Secondary Colleges Ordinance will remain as private institutions, but the Government will continue the limited scheme of assistance for needy students with the unavoidably high tuition fees that a college must charge if it is to maintain existing facilities. Any Government assistance would not be designed to increase the total number of students provided for by the colleges above the present level.
2.8
The number of students admitted to colleges of education and to other institutions providing vocational training for the social service professions will continue to be geared to the manpower requirements of the profession concerned. Over the coming years the teaching profession will need a good supply of new entrants with a high standard of general education and who have been trained thoroughly
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