XN000022-1977-11-13 — Page 3

TU

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1977

THE GOVERNMENT DOES, HOWEVER, RECOGNISE THAT UNTIL THE NUMBER OF PLACES AT THE UNIVERSITIES AND POLYTECHNIC CAN BE EXPANDED FURTHER THAN IS ENVISAGED UNDER THE PRESENT PROGRAMME STUDENTS WILL CONTINUE TO SEEK PLACES IN POST-SECONDARY COLLEGES, AND THAT THOSE STUDENTS WHO ARE SUITABLE ACADEMICALLY SHOULD NOT BE EXCLUDED ON THE GROUNDS OF INABILITY TO PAY FEES.

+FOR THIS REASON THE GREEN PAPER (ON SENIOR SECONDARY AND TERTIARY EDUCATION) STATES THAT THE GOVERNMENT WILL CONSIDER, IN CONSULTATION WITH THE COLLEGE AUTHORITIES, THE FUTURE ARRANGEMENTS GOVERNING ANY SCHEME OF ASSISTANCE BUT THAT SUCH ASSISTANCE WOULD NOT BE DESIGNED TO INCREASE THE TOTAL NUMBER OF STUDENTS ON DIPLOMA COURSES PROVIDED FOR BY THE APPROVED POST-SECONDARY COLLEGES AS A GROUP ABOVE THE PRESENT ENROLMENT, + MR. TOPLEY SAID.

THE DIRECTOR POINTED OUT THAT THERE WAS ALREADY A WIDE RANGE OF TERTIARY EDUCATION COURSES FOR THE ABLE SCHOOL LEAVER IN HONG KONG AND MANY HAVE THE ADVANTAGE OF BEING AVAILABLE ON A PART-TIME BASIS OR IN OTHER WAYS BEING ASSOCIATED WITH JOB EXPERIENCE.

+I THINK IT IS WORTH NOTING THAT MOST OF THE FULL-TIME COURSES CAN BE COMPLETED IN LESS THAN THE FOUR YEARS REQUIRED TO OBTAIN A POST-SECONDARY COLLEGE DIPLOMA, HE SAID.

ON THE RECOGNITION OF A POST-SECONDARY COLLEGE DIPLOMA, THE DIRECTOR SAID THAT IN PRACTICE THE VALUE WHICH A PROSPECTIVÉ EMPLOYER WOULD PLACE ON SUCH A DIPLOMA WAS DETERMINED BY THE PERSONAL STANDARDS ACHIEVED BY THE HOLDERS OF THE DIPLOMA.

+AS YOU KNOW, SELECTED CIVIL SERVICE POSTS, FOR INSTANCE, ARE OPEN TO DIPLOMA HOLDERS, BUT OPEN ONLY IN THE SENSE THAT DIPLOMA HOLDERS ARE ELIGIBLE FOR CONSIDERATION FOR EMPLOYMENT AND IF FOUND SUITABLE WILL BE APPOINTED ON A STARTING SALARY LYING ROUGHLY MIDWAY BETWEEN THE STARTING SALARIES OBTAINABLE BY UNIVERSITY GRADUATES AND HOLDERS OF ADVANCED LEVEL QUALIFICATIONS. THE QUESTION OF STANDARDS, THEN, IS ULTIMATELY A QUESTION OF PERSONAL PERFORMANCE, MR. TOPLEY SAID.

IF AN EMPLOYER WAS PROUD TO HAVE A DIPLOMA HOLDER WORKING FOR HIM, AND THAT PRIDE WAS ROOTED IN A CONFIDENCE IN THE EMPLOYEE'S PRESENT PERFORMANCE AND POTENTIAL FOR DEVELOPMENT, THEN THIS WOULD BE OF IMMENSE BENEFIT TO THE PROSPECTS OF STUDENTS OF THE PARENT COLLEGE.

+ I THINK THIS IS PERHAPS THE MOST USEFUL ADVICE I CAN OFFER TO THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE RECEIVED YOUR DIPLOMAS THIS MORNING: YOUR GREATEST GIFT WHICH YOU CAN RETURN TO SHUE YAN COLLEGE WILL BE TO ESTABLISH THROUGH YOUR OWN PERFORMANCE, STANDARDS WHICH WILL BE READILY RECOGNISED AND VALUED WITHIN THE COMMUNITY,+ HE SAID.

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