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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1993
AND
ON
THE FUNCTIONAL CONSTITUENCIES THE ADVICE WHICH WE REST OUR CASE ON AS LAWYERS SAY IS THE ADVICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL AND HIS DEPARTMENT AND THE ADVICE OF TWO OF THE MOST DISTINGUISHED LAWYERS IN HONG KONG
TWO OF THE MOST DISTINGUISHED QCS WHO ARE ON MY EXECUTIVE COUNCIL - BUT I AGREE THAT THERE IS AT LEAST ONE OTHER MAYBE SEVERAL OTHER DISTINGUISHED LAWYERS WHO TAKE A DIFFERENT POINT OF VIEW. ALL I CAN SAY IS THAT I HAVE TAKEN THE ADVICE I HAVE BEEN GIVEN IN GOOD PART AND ATTEMPTED AS FAR AS I CAN TO PUT FORWARD PROPOSALS WHICH MAKE OUR FUNCTIONAL CONSTITUENCY SYSTEM AS FAIR AS IT POSSIBLY COULD BE.
NOW DOES ANYBODY HAVE QUESTION ON EDUCATION OR WELFARE ISSUES WHICH THEY'D LIKE TO ASK?
IN
QUESTION:
THANK YOU, MR PATTEN, I WANT TO ASK A QUESTION ON EDUCATION. SINCE 1989 THE GOVERNMENT HAS PURSUED A POLICY OF EXPANDING THE TERTIARY EDUCATION MAINLY ON THE NUMBER OF PLACES. YOUR POLICY ADDRESS YOU SAID THAT THERE WILL BE MORE TERTIARY PLACES IN 1997, AND IN 1997, 2,200 MORE TEACHERS WILL BE EMPLOYED. MAY I ASK YOU, DO YOU THINK THAT THE GOVERNMENT IS GOING TOO FAST? IT IS VERY EASY TO PUT DOWN STATISTICS BUT HAVE YOU CONSIDERED, WHAT ABOUT THE QUALITY OF THESE ADDITIONAL TEACHERS? WOULD YOU THINK, IN YOUR EXPANSION POLICY, YOU HAVE PAID ATTENTION TO QUANTITY AT THE EXPENSE OF QUALITY?
GOVERNOR:
AN IMPORTANT POINT, AND I SPEAK AS A FORMER EDUCATION MINISTER IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, AND THE GRANDSON OF TWO HEAD TEACHERS. PEOPLE CAN MAKE GREAT SPEECHES ABOUT EDUCATION, ABOUT THE CURRICULUM; WE CAN IMPROVE THE CLASSROOMS, WE CAN PUT, AS WE ARE DOING, MORE COMPUTERS IN THE CLASSROOMS. WE CAN DO ALL THOSE THINGS, BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT SINGLE ELEMENT IN A GOOD EDUCATION IS THE QUALITY OF THE TEACHING PROFESSION. WE ALL KNOW THAT FROM OUR OWN EXPERIENCE: THE TEACHERS WHO MADE US EXCITED AND INTERESTED IN A SUBJECT, THE TEACHERS WHO COULD GET US TO WORK HARDER WITHOUT THREATENING US. SO LAST YEAR, AND INCREASINGLY THIS, WE HAVE TRIED TO PUT MORE EMPHASIS, NOT JUST ON QUANTITY BUT ON QUALITY. FOR EXAMPLE, WE'VE PUT FORWARD PROPOSALS THIS YEAR FOR SPENDING 354 MILLION OF YOUR HONG KONG DOLLARS ON GIVING MORE PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS THE OPPORTUNITY TO UPGRADE THEIR SKILLS SO THAT THEY CAN BECOME GRADUATES, AND FOR HAVING MORE GRADUATES IN OUR SECONDARY SCHOOLS. WE'RE DEVELOPING MORE IN-SERVICE TRAINING COURSES FOR TEACHERS, FOR TEACHERS WHO ARE ALREADY WORKING IN THE CLASSROOM, TO TRY TO INCREASE THEIR SKILLS AND THEIR ABILITIES. WE'RE DOING THAT, PARTICULARLY, FOR EXAMPLE, IN THE AREAS OF LANGUAGE TEACHING, BOTH PUTONGHUA AND ENGLISH. SO WE ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THE QUALITY OF THE TEACHING PROFESSION BUT WE CAN'T ENTIRELY FORGET THE QUESTION OF QUANTITY AS WELL..
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