WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1987
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QUOTING HIS OWN WORDS NINE YEARS AGO, MR CHEN SAID THOSE SELECTED FOR ENTRANCE TO THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG WOULD BE GIVEN A FURTHER TWO YEARS OF EDUCATION, WHILE THOSE FOR THE CHINESE UNIVERSITY WOULD BE GIVEN ONE MORE YEAR, TO PREPARE THEM FOR JOINING THE FIRST YEAR OF THE UNIVERSITY COURSES WITHOUT REQUIRING THEM TO SIT FOR THE MATRICULATION EXAMINATION.
HE NOTED THAT THE PROVISIONAL ADMISSION SCHEME PRACTISED BY THE CHINESE UNIVERSITY AND A SIMILAR SCHEME UNDER CONSIDERATION BY THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG WERE NOT DISSIMILAR TO HIS PROPOSAL OF NINE YEARS AGO.
+MY PROPOSAL, IF ADOPTED, WOULD ENABLE THE PRESENT THREE-YEAR AND FOUR-YEAR DEGREE SYSTEMS TO CO-EXIST THEREBY AVOIDING UNNECESSARY AND DAMAGING CHANGES IN OUR EXISTING EDUCATION SYSTEMS, + HE SAID.
MOREOVER, IT WOULD ASSIST IN ACHIEVING THE EDUCATION COMMISSION'S OBJECTIVE OF IMPROVING THE EDUCATION VALUE OF FORM VI AND FORM VII COURSES, HE ADDED.
REFERRING TO THE ISSUED RELATING TO THE DURATION OF UNIVERSITY DEGREE COURSES, MR CHEN SAID HE WOULD LIKE TO CLARIFY A COMMON MISCONCEPTION THAT FOUR-YEAR DEGREE COURSES WERE NECESSARILY MORE COSTLY THAN THREE-YEAR ONES.
HE SAID IT WAS TRUE THAT WHEN VIEWED SUPERFICIALLY A FOUR-YEAR UNIVERSITY COURSE BY ITSELF WOULD BE MORE COSTLY TO THE UNIVERSITY THAN A THREE-YEAR ONE.
HOWEVER, HE SAID PEOPLE MUST NOT OVERLOOK THE TOTAL COST TO THE PUBLIC PURSE WHEN MAKING THE COMPARISON.
QUOTING FIGURES TO SUPPORT HIS VIEW, MR CHEN SAID FOR THE YEAR 1984-85, ONLY ABOUT ONE IN SIX FORM VII STUDENTS EVENTUALLY WENT ON TO THREE-YEAR DEGREE EDUCATION IN HONG KONG, MEANING FOR EVERY ONE STUDENT JOINING A THREE-YEAR DEGREE COURSE, THE PUBLIC PURSE HAD TO BEAR THE COST OF SUBSIDISING SIX FORM VII PLACES.
HE EXPLAINED THAT IF FORM VII EDUCATION WERE TO BE ABOLISHED TO GO WITH A FOUR-YEAR DEGREE SYSTEM, THE COST FOR SIX FORM VII PLACES WOULD BE SAVED, RESULTING IN A NET SAVING DESPITE A HIGHER UNIT COST FOR UNIVERSITY EDUCATION.
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