XN000022-1975-10-08 — Page 26

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1975

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SECONDARY EDUCATION: INTERIM GOALS REACHED

X X X X X

THE GOVERNMENT HAS REACHED ITS INTERIM GOALS OF EXPANDING SECONDARY EDUCATION AHEAD OF TIME WITH 158,000 PLACES IN FORMS 1-3 AND 40,000 PLACES IN FORMS 4-5 IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR IN

FPTEMBER 1975.

THE GOVERNOR SAID THE 158,000 PLACES IN FORMS 1-3 REPRESENTED AN INCREASE OF ABOUT 30,000 PLACES IN THE LAST TWO YEARS, AND PROVIDED JUST OVER 50 PER CENT OF THE 1975 SECONDARY SCHOOLS LITRANCE EXAMINATION (SSEE) CANDIDATURE WITH FORM 1 PLACES FOR tHICH THE GOVERNMENT HAD PLANNED.

THE 40,000 PLACES IN FORMS 4 AND 5 ENABLED THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT TO ALLOCATE FIVE-YEAR PLACES TO 19.5 PER CENT OF THE 1975 SSEE CANDIDATURE.

THIS REPRESENTED SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS AND WAS ALL THAT WAS POSSIBLE IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES, HE SAID. HOWEVER, HE RECOGNISED THAT IT WAS NOT ENOUGH AND THAT IT INVOLVED A ONE-YEAR DELAY IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FIRST YEAR'S PHASE OF THE 1974 WHITE PAPER ON EDUCATION.

THE FIRST PHASE INVOLVED THREE OBJECTIVES.

* BUYING AN ADDITIONAL 10,600 JUNIOR SECONDARY PLACES-

* CREATING A FURTHER 9,300 PLACES THROUGH FLOATING

ADDITIONAL CLASSES IN EXISTING SCHOOLS= AND

* ENTERING INTO THE SECOND STAGE OF AN APPROVED PROGRAMME TO CONVERT 36 ASSISTED PRIVATE SCHOOLS INTO FULLY-AIDED SCHOOLS WHICH WOULD MAKE AVAILABLE 7,200 EXTRA FORM 1 PLACES FOR SSEE ALLOCATION.

THESE ADDITIONAL 27,100 PLACES WOULD ENABLE THE DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION TO ALLOCATE FORM 1 PLACES FOR 74.3 PER CENT OF THE 1976 SSEE CANDIDATURE.

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THE GOVERNOR WARNED THAT IT MIGHT NOT BE EASY TO FIND THE MONEY FOR ALL OF THIS IN ADDITION TO WHAT IS NEEDED TO FINANCE SCHOOLS UNDER CONSTRUCTION AND TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL PLACES REQUIRED FOR PROMOTIONS FROM LOWER TO HIGHER FORMS.

TO FULFIL THE TOTAL WHITE PAPER PROGRAMME, SIR MURRAY SAID, THERE IS A BALANCE OF 150 SCHOOLS TO BE BUILT AT A COST OF $5 MILLION EACH AT PRESENT DAY PRICES.

/+SC IN SECONDARY