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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1992
SPEAKING DURING THE DEBATE ON THE MOTION OF THANKS FOR THE GOVERNOR'S POLICY ADDRESS IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
TODAY
(WEDNESDAY), MR CHAN OUTLINED VARIOUS CHANGES THAT WOULD BE MADE TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF EDUCATION.
THE
THE
ΤΟ UPGRADE THE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION AND IDENTIFY ADMINISTRATIVE AND ACADEMIC TASKS WHICH MUST NOW BE DONE, PROVISIONAL GOVERNING COUNCIL WILL WORK TOWARDS THE GOAL OF CREATING THE INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION BY OCTOBER 1994.
IN
MEANWHILE, MR CHAN SAID, INTERIM IMPROVEMENTS WILL BE MADE THE COLLEGES, SUCH AS UPGRADING THE STAFF, LIBRARIES AND EQUIPMENT, AND IMPROVING THE PROMOTION RATIO FOR THE BASIC LECTURER RANK.
HE ALSO NOTED THAT THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON TEACHER EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS RECOMMENDED IN EDUCATION COMMISSION REPORT NO. 5 (ECR 5) WOULD BE SET UP AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE IN 1993.
THIS COMMITTEE WILL, AS A PRIORITY TASK, DEVELOP AN ASSESSMENT MECHANISM FOR HOLDERS OF NON-STANDARD TEACHING QUALIFICATIONS.
AND
"THIS WILL HELP US IDENTIFY A LARGER POOL OF POTENTIAL TEACHERS ENABLE THOSE WHO DEMONSTRATE THEIR COMPETENCE THROUGH OPEN TESTS TO BE APPOINTED AS QUALIFIED TEACHERS, MR CHAN SAID.
·
HE ADDED THAT SOME OF THE 780 NEW TEACHING POSTS TO BE CREATED NEXT YEAR WOULD BE FILLED THROUGH THIS NEW MECHANISM.
HOWEVER HE BE
QUALITY WOULD
SCHOOLS TOO QUICKLY.
WAS QUICK TO ADDRESS SOME MEMBERS WORRY THAT LOWERED BY ADDING TOO MANY NEW TEACHERS ΤΟ THE
"THE WHOLE THRUST OF THE ECR 5 STRATEGY IS TO ENABLE SCHOOLS TO PROVIDE A HIGHER QUALITY SERVICE," HE SAID.
"IN THE LONGER TERM, THIS HIGHER QUALITY WILL EMERGE FROM THE GREATER ATTRACTION OF TEACHING AS A CAREER, A REVITALISED TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMME, AND ENCOURAGEMENT FOR TEACHERS TO UPGRADE THEIR QUALIFICATIONS THROUGHOUT THEIR CAREER.
"IN THE SHORT TERM, SCHOOLS SHOULD BE ABLE TO FILL THEIR NEW POSTS WITH COMPETENT TEACHERS, INCLUDING SOME EXPERIENCED TEACHERS DEFERRING THEIR RETIREMENT BY A YEAR OR TWO, AND SOME HOLDERS OF NON- STANDARD QUALIFICATIONS WHO HAVE PROVED THEIR SUITABILITY TO TEACH.'
AS FOR KINDERGARTEN EDUCATION, MR CHAN SAID THE EXISTING POLICY WAS ΤΟ ENABLE ALL TO HAVE ACCESS TO KINDERGARTEN, BY PROVIDING FEE REMISSION TO THOSE WHO NEED IT AND BY SUBSIDISING, TO THE TUNE $113 MILLION THIS YEAR, THE RENT AND RATES OF
NON-PROFIT MAKING KINDERGARTEN.
OF
HE SAID THE MAIN CONCERN AT THIS LEVEL OF EDUCATION WAS ΤΟ RAISE THE QUALITY OF TEACHERS,
/TO HELP
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