38
Wednesday, March 15, 1972
It was gratifying to note that some 17,000 additional places in
Form I to III plus a further 14,000 subsidized places in existing private
schools would be available during 1972/73.
"At this rate, we are pretty sure that the target will be reached
in time and with luck perhaps a little ahead of time," she said.
Hence, the ultimate aim for a subsidized universal secondary
education was no longer a far-fetched ideal but a possible reality in the
not too far distant future, she added.
Land Grant
"I would like to repeat my plea to Government to undertake to
accelerate its efforts to expedite the process of land grant and capital
subsidy to voluntary agencies to build and operate more secondary schools
and vocational centres during the next few years," she said.
Many people had criticised the education system as too academic
and too examination-oriented.
A system of competitive selection, especially at the university
entrance level, had to remain a necessary evil as long as the three tiers
of education remained a sharp pyramid.
"However, the aim of secondary education should not be so much
to produce candidates for the universities, but more important, to produce
useful and responsible citizens as well as a trained work force for commerce
and industry and the professions," she said.
"The period 12 to 18 is the most important and formative years in
a child's life and we depend heavily on this particular tier of the education
system for the development of character, good citizenship and high moral
standards in our children, through strict discipline and extra-curricula
activities."
/Mrs. Li