XN000022-1973-04-02 — Page 2

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Monday, April 2, 1973

SCHOOLS TO OPEN AS USUAL ON WEDNESDAY

Schools in Hong Kong will be open for normal sessions on Wednesday.

Announcing this today the Assistant Director of Education (Primary),

Mr. K.5. Yeung, said he had asked headmasters to make this point clear to

parents and pupils.

"I am sure that the vast majority of teachers will follow their normal

timetables on Wednesday and will be teaching their pupils as usual," he added.

"Teaching is a profession which instills a sense of responsibility

and I am confident that our teachers will, as always, be conscious of their

duty to their pupils."

Commenting on the proposed course of action announced at a meeting

of teachers on Sunday, Mr. Yeung said he regretted that the leaders of the

certificated masters had apparently rejected the new pay scale now being

implemented.

Regarding the criticism that under the new scale a teacher must

wait 19 years to reach the maximum, Mr. Yeung said the normal scale ran from

$1,175 to $1,750 by annual increments over a span of eight years. The extended

scale up to $2,050, was reached by three increments of five years, three years

and three years.

"The majority of certificated masters are in aided schools and have

recently benefitted by the introduction of a new structure which provides many

more promotion posts", he added.

"In the