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The Development of Senior Secondary and Tertiary Education (October 1978).
The White Paper set forth the following policy guidelines:
(i) Rate of provision of subsidised sixth-form places:
Subsidised sixth-form places to be provided in schools and
(subject to specified conditions) approved post-secondary
colleges for up to one-third of the students entering
subsidised Form IV places two years previously, subject to
sufficient numbers of students seeking admission. (Calculated
on this basis, the maximum requirement for Lower/Middle Form
VI places rises from 6,520 in 1979/80 to 9,410 in 1981/82,
18,320 in 1984/85 and 18,360 by 1985/86 and 1986/87)(w.P.
Para 6.1).
(ii) Recommended standard for entry to sixth-form courses:
The minimum standard to continue to be a Hong Kong Certificate
of Education with passes obtained in one sitting at Grade C in
two subjects and Grade E in four other subjects (or Grade C in
four subjects and Grade E in one other subject), but schools
to be encouraged to admit students with better qualifications
(para 6.2).
(iii) Growth rate of university places: After the approved target
for the then current triennium of 10,330 students in 1980/81
had been achieved, the combined undergraduate population of
the two universities to grow at 3 per cent annually; the government
to consider during the 1980s whether this growth rate should be
changed, having regard to the demand from well-qualified
students for entry to local universities, to the opportunities
available overseas and to the employment prospects of graduates
(para 6.6).