6
Education
XXC
SOME $1,658 million - 20 per cent of the government's total expenditure - was invested on education in the 1977-8 financial year. This expenditure enabled about 30 per cent of the population to attend classes at some 2,500 schools, four technical institutes, three colleges of education, a technical teachers' college, a polytechnic and two uni- versities. Public expenditure on education will continue to rise in the years ahead to meet plans for the further expansion of educational opportunities.
From 1978, sufficient places will be made available for every primary school- leaver to proceed to three years of secondary education. This undertaking will be carried out through the provision of 51,480 additional junior secondary places and the construction of some 54 new schools, including conversions to primary schools. A further 48 new secondary schools are planned for completion between 1979 and 1981-to provide places of a better standard and to improve regional distribution.
The Governor announced in October, 1977, that junior secondary education would be made free and compulsory from September, 1978, with the abolition of the standard $400-a-year fee. Furthermore, the Director of Education's powers to serve a school attendance order on a parent who withholds a child from school without reasonable excuse will be extended. From September, 1979, these powers will cover children who have not yet reached the age of 14 and, from September, 1980, children under 15 who have not yet completed Form III. Prohibitions on the employment of children also will be extended to help enforce compulsory school attendance. Hong Kong children will thus receive nine years' free and compulsory education in primary and secondary schools, with appropriate prohibitions on employment during those years. In November, 1977, the government issued, for public comment, a Green Paper outlining proposals for developing senior secondary (Forms IV to VI) and tertiary education over the next 10 years. The government aims to provide a range of oppor- tunities, mainly in schools and technical institutes, to enable students to continue their education on a subsidised basis after completing Form III.
The Green Paper proposes that subsidised Form IV places should be provided in 1981 for 50 per cent of students in the 15-year-old age group instead of the 40 per cent recommended in the 1974 White Paper. At present, such places are available for only 17 per cent of this age group. Places in technical institutes, which provide the Form III leaver with full-time courses and also part-time courses in conjunction with em- ployment, will meet the educational needs of a further 14 per cent. This means that, in 1981, there will be subsidised places in schools and technical institutes together for 64 per cent of students in the 15-year-old age group.