WEDNESDAY, AUGUST, 2, 1978
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+HOWEVER, THE TEACHING OF MORALITY OR ETHICS IS NO EASY TASK. WE ETER AREAS OF DEEP CONTROVERSY AND IF TEACHERS ARE TO TEACH EFFECTIVE MORAL STANDARDS TO QUESTIONING PUPILS THEY MUST BE GIVEN A SOUND KNOWLEDGE OF THE CONFLICTING VIEWS AND BE PREPARED TO DEAL WITH SUCH QUESTIONS AS 'ARE THERE ANY ABSOLUTE VALUES CR ARE ALL VALUES RELATIVE?'
+THIS VERY QUESTION IS AT THE HEART OF THE CRISIS IN OTHER COUNTRIES WHICH DO NOT APPEAR TO HAVE SO COMPLETELY ABONDONED THE ATTEMPT TO INSTIL MORAL VALUES AS MR. ALEX WU SUGGESTS.
+ INDEED, THERE IS REAL CONCERN IN BRITAIN OVER THIS ISSUE AND VALUABLE WORK HAS BEEN DONE IN CONSTRUCTING SYLLABUSES WHICH ATTEMPT TO ENCOURAGE PUPILS TO THINK SERIOUSLY ABOUT MORAL VALUES WITHOUT INDOCTRINATION, + ·
TURNING TO THE PROBLEMS OF THE TWO LANGUAGES, MR. TOPLEY SAID THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT HAD BEEN AWARE OF THIS FOR A LONG TIME.
+THE IDEA OF CONCENTRATING ON EITHER CHINESE OR ENGLISH, AS SUGGESTED BY MR. YEUNG, IS ATTRACTIVE, HOWEVER
I CANNOT REALLY SEE HOW WE COULD EVER BE JUSTIFIED IN CONCENTRATING ON ENGLISH WITH CHILDREN WHOSE FIRST LANGUAGE IS CHINESE.
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+TO ADOPT THE ALTERNATIVE TO USE CHINESE ONLY WOULD BE SEEN BY MANY AS A RETROGRADE STEP. HONG KONG IS AN INTERNATIONAL CITY WHOSE VERY SURVIVAL DEPENDS ON TRADE AND COMMUNICATION WITH THE REST OF THE WORLD.
+ENGLISH IS ITS MEANS OF DOING SO. I BELIEVE, THEREFORE, THAT WE SHALL HAVE TO GO ON LIVING WITH OUR TWO-LANGUAGE PROBLEM.
+WHAT WE CAN DO, AND ARE DOING, IS TO STUDY INTENSIVELY THE PROBLEM OF ENGLISH TEACHING TO FIND THE MOST EFFECTIVE AND LEAST BURDENSOME METHODS FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE.
+FINALLY, AND NOT ENTIRELY UNRELATED, IS THE QUESTION OF TEXTBOOKS IN CHINESE RAISED BY MR. HILTON CHEONG-LEEN.
+LOWER DEMAND FOR TEXTBOOKS IN CHINESE AT THE SECONDARY SCHOOL LEVEL HAS KEPT THE QUALITY OF THESE BOOKS INFERIOR TO THEIR ENGLISH COUNTERPARTS AND LESS CHOICE IS AVAILABLE.
+AGAIN THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT IS AWARE OF THE PROBLEM AND
IS DOING ALL IT CAN TO IMPROVE MATTERS IN DISCUSSION WITH PUBLISHERS.+
MR. TOPLEY SAID THE DESIRE FOR IMPROVEMENT IN THE QUALITY OF SECONDARY EDUCATION WAS ALSO REFLECTED IN MEMBERS' COMMENTS ON TEACHER TRAINING.
+THERE IS OBVIOUSLY GENERAL AGREEMENT THAT IF WE ARE TO PROVIDE A BROADER GENERAL EDUCATION TO A GREATER NUMBER OF OUR YOUNG PEOPLE, WE SHALL REQUIRE NOT ONLY MORE TEACHERS, BUT ALSO HIGHLY EDUCATED AND WELL-TRAINED TEACHERS, HE SAID.
/+MEMBERS HAVE, .....