XN000022-1974-10-16 — Page 6

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1974

+ THE WHITE PAPER'S VIEW IS THAT ALL CHILDREN WILL BENEFIT EQUALLY UP TO THE AGE OF 14 FROM ELEMENTS OF BOTH GRAMMAR SCHOOL AND TECHNICAL/PRACTICAL TRAINING, AND THAT EVENTUAL SEPARATION OF THE TWO STREAMS SHOULD BE LEFT AS LATE AS POSSIBLE TO SHOW IN WHICH DIRECTION THEIR NATURAL ABILITY LIES.

+WE ARE ALL VERY CONSCIOUS OF THE NEED TO IMPROVE. TECHNICAL APTITUDE, BUT WE BELIEVE THAT THIS IS LIKELY TO BE MORE SECURELY BUILT ON THE BASIS OF A GENERAL EDUCATION, INCLUDING OF COURSE A TECHNICAL ELEMENT, UP TO THE AGE OF 14,+ HE SAID. THEREAFTER THERE WOULD BE AMPLE MEANS OF IMPLANTING AND EXTENDING TECHNICAL EDUCATION.

SIR MURRAY SAID THE PROPOSAL WAS THAT EVENTUALLY 40 PER CENT OF SENIOR SECONDARY PLACES WOULD BE IN TECHNICAL FORMS. +FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT REACH SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS THERE WILL BE APPRENTICESHIP SCHENES COUPLED WITH THE SERVICES OF THE FIVE TECHNICAL INSTITUTES, AND FOR THE MOST TALENTED STUDENTS, THE POLYTECHNIC +

ON THE SECONDARY SCHOOL ENTRANCE EXAMINATION, THE GOVERNOR SAID THAT WITH THE PROVISION OF SECONDARY PLACES FOR ALL PRIMARY SCHOOL LEAVERS THE NEED FOR THIS EXAMINATION WOULD DISAPPEAR, PROBABLY AFTER MAY 1978.

IT WAS PROPOSED, HE ADDED, TO INTRODUCE A NEW EXAMINATION FOR A HONG KONG JUNIOR CERTIFICATE OF EDUCATION TO BE SAT AT THE END OF THE JUNIOR SECONDARY COURSE AS A RECORD OF ATTAINMENT, AND AS A METHOD, OF SELECTION FOR THE SECONDARY COURSE. SIN MURRAY STRESSED, HOWEVER, THAT THE PROPOSAL WAS TO PHASE ITS INTRODUCTION SO THAT NO CHILD WOULD HAVE TO SIT BOTH EXAMINATIONS.

TURNING TO THE HONG KONG POLYTECHNIC, THE GOVERNOR SAID FUNDS HAD BEEN AGREED FOR PHASE ONE OF THE POLYTECHNIC'S PLANS FOR A NEW CAMPUS AT HUNG HOM. THIS WOULD ENABLE THE POLYTECHNIC'S EXPANSION TO REACH A FULL TIME EQUIVALENT OF ABOUT 6,000 STUDENTS BY 1976. THEREAFTER, PHASES TWO AND THREE OF THE POLYTECHNIC'S DEVELOPMENT PLAN WOULD TAKE IT ONWARDS TO THE ULTIMATE OBJECTIVE OF A STUDENT BODY OF AT LEAST 8,000 AND POSSIBLY AS MUCH AS 10,000 FULL TIME EQUIVALENT STUDENTS.

AS THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN WOULD BE DISCUSSED AGAIN IN 1975 BY THE GOVERNMENT AND THE UNIVERSITY AND POLYTECHNIC GRANTS COMMITTEE, SIR MURRAY COULD NOT COMMENT FURTHER AT THIS STAGE.

ON THE UNIVERSITIES, THE GOVERNOR SAID THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE UNIVERSITY AND POLYTECHNIC GRANTS COMMITTEE FOR THE CURRENT UNIVERSITIES QUADRENNIUM 1974-78, AND FOR THE FIRST TWO YEARS OF THE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME OF THE HONG KONG POLYTECHNIC, HAD BEEN CONSIDERED IN DETAIL AND FUNDS APPROVED ACCORDINGLY,

VED

THE HONG KONG UNIVERSITY AND THE CHINESE UNIVERSITY, HE NOTED, WERE PROGRESSING SATISFACTORILY AND SHOULD REACH A PROJECTED STUDENT ENROLMENT OF 8,850 BY 1978.

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