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Educational policy
4.2
The flow-chart (A) reproduced at appendix F represents the
normal process by which educational policy is now formulated, though
the demands of a particular situation may be such that policy proposals
do not go through all of the stages illustrated there. Much depends on
the importance or urgency of an issue. Minor matters within existing
policy and without significant financial implications may be settled
administratively within the Education Department after brief consultation
with those directly affected. However, major or complex matters
invariably entail more elaborate procedures over extended periods of
time: these are briefly detailed in the following paragraphs with
examples drawn from the development of policy in recent years.
4.3
Departmental or inter-
After a major educational issue has been identified, initial
decisions are taken by senior officers on the line of action to be
followed, and on the timing and the priority (given other commitments)
to be accorded to it: these decisions may be on an ad hoc basis within
the Government Secretariat or may be taken within a formal framework
(for example, in the Chief Secretary's Committee or the Senior Directorate
Meeting of the Education Department), depending on the nature and
complexity of the issue and its likely ambit. At this stage, decisions
are tentative and to some extent intuitive.
departmental working parties may be set up at this point, with terms of
reference which entail a wide-ranging exploration of issues related to
the main theme. This was the position in 1977, for example, when a
Working Party on Higher Education was convened under the chairmanship of
the Director of Education, with a nuclear membership drawn from the
Education Department, Social Services Branch, Finance Branch and UPGC
Secretariat and additional co-oped membership drawn from time to time
from the Home Affairs, Labour, and Census and Statistics departments.
In keeping with the flexible approach to policy formulation this Working