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"Hong Kong's participation in the APEC Ministerial Meeting on Sustainable Development shows that the Government is committed to further promoting sustainable development by sharing experience of other countries in the region," Mr Leung said.
"This is also in line with the Third Review of the 1989 White Paper on the Environment published in March 1996, setting out Government's intention to incorporate sustainability into its policy and planning framework."
Mr Leung noted that the Government's proposal to embark on a 30-month study, to examine how the concept of Sustainable Development can be applied to Hong Kong, what principles and sustainability indicators are appropriate and what systems and mechanisms are required to implement the concept of sustainability is consistent with the overall theme of the APEC conference.
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Teachers' salaries to be assessed
In response to press enquiries on the assessment of teacher salaries to be performed by schools, the Assistant Director of Education (Schools), Mr Kwan Shu- tsun, said: "The Education Department understands the concerns of schools and has taken various measures to address their concerns.
"A series of 48 workshops have been held for ordinary aided schools and special schools respectively since September last year to provide them with general knowledge of salary assessment and a grasp of the basic technical skills of the subject."
Feedback of the participants was positive. Over 85 per cent rated the workshops as "good" or "very good", over 92 per cent considered both the briefing session and the case study session "useful" or "very useful".
"Many schools have since taken the initiative to assess salaries using the proforma provided in our Guide for schools reference," Mr Kwan said.
They have proved themselves competent in taking up salary assessment by achieving a high degree of accuracy, he added.
Mr Kwan stressed that the department considered it inappropriate in principle and unreasonable in practice for District Education officers/inspectors (Special Schools Administration) to carry out salary assessment on behalf of schools.