6.12
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The 1979 Working Group found that the job prospects of graduates
of the three tertiary institutions were on the whole satisfactory (only
1
2 per cent at the time of the three current surveys having failed to
find employment), with types of employment and starting salaries in
accordance with established patterns: however, there was some evidence
that starting salary levels had not increased at the same rate as the
average daily wages of workers during 1976-79 and were not high in
comparison with the starting salaries of some jobs requiring lower
academic qualifications.
On qualifications
6.13
The views of the 1977 Working Party on academic qualifications
were (a) that students capable of taking courses at the post-Form V
level were those who obtained at least five grade E passes in the Hong
Kong Certificate of Education (HKCE) examination, this proportion being
estimated to be about 30 per cent of the relevant age group; and (b)
that of the same group, those capable of taking courses at the post-
Form VI* level were those obtaining at least three grade C passes in
the HKCE, estimated to be about 13 per cent of the relevant age group.
Estimates based on the 1976 actual results, with over-age children
excluded from the calculations.) The 1979 Working Group examined figures
showing the proportion of the Primary 6 population subsequently succeeding
in the HKCE and found that by 1979 the proportion of the relevant age
group obtaining at least five grade E passes had increased to about
35 per cent, with those obtaining at least three grade C passes increasing
to about 16 per cent. The increases were due partially to the larger
proportion of the Primary 6 population able to proceed to Form V (about
60 per cent in March 1979 compared with only 48 per cent in March 1976)
and partially, it was thought, as a result of improvements in the
* though the White Paper subsequently recommended a minimum of two grade
C and four grade E passes (or four grade C and one grade E) for entry to a sixth-form course