14
THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 1984
IN CUTTING EXPENDITURE, SHE SAID, THERE HAD TO BE A CONSTANT EVALUATION EXERCISE IN COST-EFFECTIVENESS, ASSESSING QUALITIES AND DEFICIENCIES OF SERVICES SO THAT CUTS WERE NOT MADE STRAIGHT ACROSS THE BOARD.
STRESSING THAT PROVISION OF SERVICES DID NOT MEAN PROVISION OF FREE SERVICES, SHE SAID, ON THE CONTRARY, I SEE IT MORE IMPORTANT TO SUBSIDISE JUST ENOUGH TO OFFER IMPORTANT SERVICES OF GOOD QUALITY AT COMFORTABLY AFFORDABLE LEVELS, THAN TO OFFER PARTIALLY FREE OR RIDICULOUSLY CHEAP SERVICES WHERE TEMPTATION TO MISUSE THEM IS SO HIGH.+
+AND IN DAYS WHEN SAVINGS HAVE TO BE MADE TO CUT PREVIOUS ESTABLISHED RECURRENT EXPENDITURES, SO AS TO MEET EXISTING PRIORITIES, I HOPE TO SEE SOME CUTBACK ON BENEFITS GIVEN TO THOSE WHO HAVE HAD COMPARATIVELY MORE THAN OTHERS, SHE ADDED.
DR IP FIRST CITED THE PROVISION OF SCHOOL PLACES FOR THE MENTALLY HADICAPPED AS ONE OF THE EXAMPLES OF WHERE SHE BELIEVED THE PRIORITIES MIGHT BE READJUSTED.
SHE POINTED OUT THAT BY THE END OF MARCH 1984, THERE WOULD STILL BE AN ESTIMATED 6 000 MENTALLY HANDICAPPED CHILDREN WITHOUT A SCHOOL PLACE.
+WORSE STILL, BASED ON THE TARGET DEMAND IN THE 1983 REHABILITATION PROGRAMME PLAN REVIEW OF 10 398 SCHOOL PLACES, AND THE PLANNED PROVISION IN 1984-85 DRAFT ESTIMATES OF ONLY 4 238, THERE WILL BE A SHORTFALL OF MORE THAN 6 000 SCHOOL PLACES AT THE END OF 1985, + SHE ADDED.
+BY THE END OF 1984, ONLY 15 PER CENT AND BY THE END OF 1985 EVEN WITH ANOTHER MISERLY SUM OF $6 MILLION, STILL ONLY 20 PER CENT OF THE APPROVED CAPITAL COMMITMENT TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF SCHOOL PLACES FOR THE MENTALLY HANDICAPPED WILL HAVE BEEN OR WOULD BE REALISED, SHE SAID.
+ I KNOW IT WILL BE ARGUED THAT THE ESTIMATES DO NOT REPRESENT THE TURE PICTURE AND THAT THE TRUE DEMAND WOULD BE REVEALED SOON WHEN THE COMPUTERISED REGISTRY FOR THE DISABLED IS PUBLISHED, BUT DO NOT FORGET THAT SUCH REGISTRY IS NOT ENFORCED SO IT IS IN ITSELF ALSO INCOMPLETE, SHE SAID.
SHE NOTED THAT VARIOUS REASONS HAD BEEN GIVEN AS TO WHY THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW SPECIAL SCHOOLS GENERALLY TOOK LONGER THAN ORDINARY SCHOOLS, SUCH AS THE LACK OF STANDARD DESIGNS, THE NEED TO REVISE SKETCH PLANS TO MEET VARIOUS REQUESTS, THE GEOTECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND THE HIGH COSTS.
+BUT THESE REASONS ARE NOT INSURMOUNTABLE IF OUR ABLE CIVIL SERVANTS PUT THEIR MIND TO IT, SHE STRESSED.
SHE SAID, IN CONTRAST, CHILDREN WHOSE MOTHER TONGUE IS ENGLISH COULD MAKE ONE OF THREE CHOICES - TO ATTEND ANGLO-CHINESE GOVERNMENT OR AIDED SCHOOLS, TO STUDY ABROAD WITH EDUCATION AND TRAVEL ALLOWANCES IF THE IR PARENTS ARE CIVIL SERVANTS AND TO ATTEND THE SCHOOLS OPERATED BY THE ENGLISH SCHOOL FOUNDATION WHICH IS SUBSIDISED BY THE GOVERNMENT.
/SHE SAID