機密 ·
Consultations
15
Neither the Board of Education nor the Labour Advisory
Board has yet been consulted on these proposals.
Public Relations
16
If Honourable Members advise that the proposals in this memorandum should be accepted, the Governor proposes to announce them in general terms in his address at the opening of the Legislative Council in October, so as to give as long a period of notice as possible before the introduction of the new legislation, Whilst the press and the public generally may accept the view that compulsory secondary education is a desirable social objective, two aspects of the proposals are likely to be controversial. The first is the effect of extending the prohibition on employment of 12-14 year olds to cover all forms of full-time employment (not just employment in industrial undertakings as at present); the second the proposal that whilst education up to Form III should be compulsory, it should not be free. The former is likely to cause concern to particular sections of the community, where families rely on the wage-earning ability of their young teen-age members (although the proposals can be adequately defended on social grounds). The latter will be an issue taken up by pressure groups and some educationists. They may well argue that, as in the case of primary education, the provision of adequate places as a first priority should be followed logically by the provision of free secondary education, for up to five years, as the next step. This argument could, to a large extent, be countered by reassurances of an improved and more effective fee remission scheme.
Conclusion
17
Honourable Members are asked to advise whether:
(a) the Director of Education's powers to enforce
school attendance should be extended in the form proposed in this memorandum (paragraphs4-7);
(b) subject to the approval of the Finance Committee
of the Legislative Council, the full cost of the fees charged in private schools where places are bought should be brought within the scope of the remission scheme, with suitable controls being used to pre- vent abuse (paragraph 9);
(c) the prohibitions on the employment of children should be extended insofar as is necessary to assist the enforcement of school attendance by children of compulsory school age (paragraphs 12-13).
CONFIDENTIAL
機密