I
22
Wednesday, October 17, 1973
SECONDARY EDUCATION TARGETS MAY BE ACHIEVED IN TEN YEARS
Final Phased Plan To De Fublished In A White Paper
The reconstituted Board of Education has confirmed that the long-term
plans for the expansion of secondary education in Hong Kong could be achieved
within a 10-year plan, that is by 1984, the Governor, Sir Murray MacLebose
told the opening session of the Legislative Council today.
The targets involve the provision of 184,000 additional assisted places
in Forms 1 to 3 and 55,000 additional places in Forms 4 and 5 so as to offer
three years secondary education to all in the 12-14 age group, and to double
the percentage in the full five-year course leading to a Certificate of
Education.
The Board's report, the Governor said, "lays down an interim target
of places for 80 per cent of the 12-14 year old age group by 1981."
It recommended that one-fifth of the places in the three-year course
should be in pre-vocational schools and that one-third of the places in the
five-year course should be in secondary technical schools.
The report also recommended that to meet the necessary expansion in
the teaching services a fourth College of Education should be established
as soon as possible, if necessary in temporary accommodation,
The universities, the report said, should consider further expansion
of their present facilities for graduate training in education.
Sir Murray said he was interested to see recent discussion on the
The Board, he said, "has quite separately
role of English in our schools.
recommended that Chinese should become the usual medium of instruction for
lower forms of secondary schools.
"In keeping