XN000022-1977-06-20 — Page 2

MONDAY, JUNE 20, 1977

20 NEW SECONDARY SCHOOLS FOR TSUEN WAN OVER NEXT FOUR YEARS ******

THE GOVERNMENT WILL BUILD ABOUT 20 SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN TSUEN WAN EY 1981, AND EIGHT OF THEM ARE ALREADY UNDER CONSTRUCTION.

THE SECRETARY FOR THE NEW TERRITORIES, MR. DAVID AKERS-JONĖS, SAID THIS TODAY WHILE ADDRESSING A GRADUATION CEREMONY OF THE JU CHING CHU ENGLISH COLLEGE AT THE CITY HALL CONCERT HALL.

HE DESCRIBED THE NUMBER AS THE SORT OF FIGURE WHICH PEOPLE HAD COME TO ACCEPT WITHOUT EXCLAMATION BUT WHICH WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DREAMT OF EVEN A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO.

CONSTRUCTION IS ALSO PROCEEDING ON AN AIR-CONDITIONED AUDITORIUM IN TSUEN WAN WHICH WOULD BE READY BY THE AUTUMN OF 1979, HE SAID.

MR. AKERS-JONES SPOKE OF THESE PROJECTS AS TWO EXAMPLES OF THE MANY THINGS BEING DONE IN TSUEN WAN TO IMPROVE OLD ENVIRONMENTS, TO ELIMINATE POOR LIVING CONDITIONS AND REMOVE DEFICIENCIES.

HOWEVER, HE TOLD THE GRADUATES THAT IT WAS NOT ENOUGH JUST TO BUILD THE CONCRETE FABRIC OF THE TOWN AND TO COUNT THE PEOPLE AS MERE STATISTICS.

+TSUEN WAN IS YOUR TOWN AND, AS YOU GROW UP, YOU MUST ASSUME SOME OF THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR IMPROVING IT, HE SAID.

+LESSONS LEARNED AT SCHOOL, OR IN THE BOY SCOUTS, GIRL GUIDES, JUNIOR POLICE CALL, AND SO ON, ALL HAVE A PRACTICAL APPLICATION AS YOU GROW OLDER, IN JOINING TOGETHER WITH YOUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBOURS TO COMBAT AND ELIMINATE THE EVILS IN CUR SOCIETY: CRIME, DRUG ADDICTION AND LACK OF CONCERN FOR THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE TOWN, HE ADDED.

MR. AKERS-JONES SAID THE WORLD TODAY FACED CHANGES

AND CHALLENGES, AND THE TEMPO OF CHANGE AND CHALLENGE IN

HONG KONG WAS EQUALLY EXTRAORDINARY.

IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION ALONE, HE SAID, THE CHANGES ARE REMARKABLE.

+

+ IN 10 YEARS, OUR UNIVERSITY POPULATION HAS DOUBLED TO ITS PRESENT TOTAL OF 8,000- THE POLYTECHNIC HAS BEEN BUILT AND NCW HAS 8,000 FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT STUDENTS PRIMARY SCHOOLING IS NOM AVAILABLE FOR ALL AND NEXT YEAR THE SECONDARY SCHOOL ENTRANCE EXAMINATION WILL DISAPPEAR AND ALL THOSE LEAVING PRIMARY SCHOOL WILL BE ABLE TO OBTAIN AIDED SECONDARY SCHOOLING, HE SAID.

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