MONDAY, JUNE 20, 1988
SIR DAVID NOTED THAT HONG KONG WAS NOT GENEROUSLY ENDOWED WITH NATURAL RESOURCES.
"INDEED, IT WOULD BE TRUE TO SAY THAT PEOPLE ARE OUR ONLY RESOURCE AND IT IS THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR HUMAN RESOURCES THAT WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO SECURE THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FUTURE GROWTH, HE SAID.
THEREFORE, THE INVESTMENT IN EDUCATION AND MANPOWER BECAME THE LARGEST COMPONENT IN PUBLIC SPENDING, HE SAID.
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TRAINING
SIR DAVID SAID UP UNTIL RECENT YEARS, INVESTMENT IN EDUCATION AND MANPOWER TRAINING HAD BEEN LARGELY CONCERNED WITH MEETING THE HEAVY SOCIAL DEMAND, AND THUS WITH THE CREATION OF PLACES AND
FACILITIES.
"AS OUR INDUSTRIAL ECONOMY MATURES, AND AS OUR COMPETITIVENESS BECOMES MORE DEPENDENT UPON THE ABILITY OF OUR WORKFORCE TO ABSORB AND USE TECHNOLOGY THAN ON MANUAL DEXTERITY, WE HAVE TO LOOK TO THE QUALITY OF OUR EDUCATION MANPOWER TRAINING AND INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES.
A
"THIS IS WHY OUR THIRD UNIVERSITY WILL BE STRUCTURED TOWARDS GROUPING OF SCHOOLS EMPHASISING SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND BUSINESS STUDIES.
"IT ALSO ACCOUNTS FOR THE FACT THAT WE ARE WORKING ON A SCHEME OF SPONSORED TRAINING FOR PRACTISING ENGINEERS AND INDUSTRIAL MANAGERS TO HELP THEM ABSORB AND APPLY THOSE TECHNOLOGIES THAT CANNOT YET BE TAUGHT FORMALLY IN OUR TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS, HE SAID.
SIR DAVID SAID IT ALSO EXPLAINED WHY THE HONG KONG POLYTECHNIC SET UP AN INDUSTRIAL SUPPORT CENTRE FOR THE PLASTICS CONVERSION AND RELATED INDUSTRIES.
IT ALSO EXPLAINED WHY HONG KONG WAS SEEKING TO FORGE AN EVEN CLOSER WORKING PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS ON THE ONE HAND, AND THE MANUFACTURING COMMUNITY ON THE OTHER, THROUGH THE MECHANISM OF TECHNOLOGY CENTRES, HE SAID.
SLR DAVID TOLD THE CONFERENCE THAT NINE YEARS OF FREE AND) COMPULSORY EDUCATION HAD BEEN PROVIDED AND FIVE MAJOR TERTIARY INSTITUTJONS WERE MAINTAINED.
"WITH THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND THE PLANNED PROVISION OF AN OPEN LEARNING INSTITUTE, HONG KONG WILL HAVE. BY THE TURN OF THE PRESENT DECADE, SEVEN DEGREE AWARDING INSTITUTIONS.'
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/HE SAID