:
48
Wednesday, October 16, 1974
Ultimately it is proposed to introudce a new
examination for a Hong Kong Junior Certificate of Education to be sat at the end of the junior secondary course as a record of attainment, and as a method of selection for the senior secondary course. But I hasten to add that the proposal is to phase its introduction so that no child will have to sit both examinations.
I would like to record my thanks to Mr. P.C. Woo and the Board of Education for all the work and expertise they have contributed to this new look at our secondary education system.
The Universities
Finally, before leaving the Educational field,
I should mention that the recommendations of the University and Polytechnic Grants Committee for the current universities quadrennium 1974-1978, and for the first two years of the development programme of the Hong Kong Polytechnic, were received and considered in detail by the Government and funds approved accordingly. Hong Kong University and the Chinese University are progressing satisfactorily and should reach a projected student enrolment of 8,850 by 1978.
Polytechnic
The Hong Kong Polytechnic has prepared impressive plans for a new campus at Hunghom, and funds for Phase 1 have been agreed. This will permit the Polytechnic's expansion to reach a full time equivalent of approximately 6,000 students by 1976. Thereafter Phases II and III of the Polytechnic Development Plan will take the Polytechnic onwards to the ultimate objective of a student body of at least 8,000 and possibly as much as 10,000 full time equivalent students. The Government and the University and Polytechnic Grants Committee will be discussing the Polytechnic Development Plan again early in 1975, and I therefore do not wish to comment further at this stage, other than to record that the Board of Governors and staff of the Hong Kong Polytechnic have already made a most impressive start, and we look for a major contribution from the Polytechnic towards the rising demand for tertiary education in Hong Kong.
Summary