49
other vocational qualifications at the post-Form VI level. In
addition the colleges would be permitted to operate one-year courses
on an unassisted basis for those students completing the two-year
post-Form VI course who had demonstrated the ability to proceed to
a higher award. Under this policy qualifications awarded at the end
of the post-Form VI courses would be aligned with those awarded by
the Polytechnic to comparable students, and the government would
recognise students completing the further one-year course successfully
and entering the government service as having the same eligibility
and entitlements as would be granted to Polytechnic students studying
one year beyond the Higher Diploma level. A further condition was
that the Director of Education would arrange for independent
assessments to be made of the standard on which the post-Form VI
course award was based so that the comparison with the Polytechnic
would be clear. Two of the colleges (Baptist and Lingnan) accepted
these conditions and the first phase of the new course structure
was accordingly introduced in September 1980. Independent
assessments of engineering courses at the Baptist College and of
business studies courses at both colleges have recently been carried
out by the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) of the United
Kingdom; these assessments were based on the Council's normal
validation procedures, and the results are now being studied within
the government. The assessment is to be extended to social work
and the humanities in November 1981.
2.71
Shue Yan College declined the offer of financial assistance
and is continuing to provide four-year diploma courses with normal
entry to the first year from among Middle 6 leavers.