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Education
EXPANSION of secondary and technical education was the main feature of 1973- representing significant progress towards the interim expansion target in secondary education by 1976.
Work started on construction of the second and third technical institutes sched- uled for opening in 1975, education television in its third year of operation extended its courses in Primary 5 level, and the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Board made preparations for introduction of the new combined Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination in 1974. This will enable subjects to be taken in English or in Chinese.
In January, the Governor, Sir Murray MacLehose, appointed Mr P. C. Woo, senior unofficial member of the Legislative Council, as chairman of the reconstituted Board of Education. There were 12 other members including the Director of Educa- tion as vice-chairman. The board, after consideration of the views of all interested educational bodies, submitted to the Governor a report containing recommendations on the future secondary education policy in the next decade. The report was tabled in the Legislative Council at the end of October and members of the public were invited to comment on it.
In its report, the board recommended that the principal objective should be the provision of three-year places for all children aged 12-14 and five-year places in government and fully-aided secondary schools for 40 per cent of those in the 12–16 age group. It is anticipated that this goal can be achieved by the end of 1984. As an interim target, the board proposed the provision by the end of 1981 of sufficient places for 80 per cent of those aged 12-14 and sufficient five-year fully aided places for 36 per cent of the 12-16 age group. The board also recommended that it is educa- tionally unsound to introduce bi-sessional operation; the government should con- tribute more to the capital costs of new school building projects, every effort should be made to minimise the harmful effects of public examinations, and Chinese should become the usual medium of instruction in lower forms of secondary schools. Further recommendations were that no free secondary education should be introduced at present but the position should be kept under regular review and no child should be denied a government, aided or assisted place in a secondary school because of his parent's inability to pay school fees, and a fourth college of education should be established as soon as possible.
Under the Education Ordinance, the Director of Education is responsible for all matters relating to education in Hong Kong. He directly controls all government