XN000022-1981-07-16 — Page 2

THURSDAY, JULY 16, 1981

NEED FOR MORE PRE-VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS STRESSED

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THERE ARE CLEARLY NOT ENOUGH PRE-VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS IN HONG KONG, SECRETARY FOR THE NEW TERRITORIES, MR DAVID AKERS-JONES, SAID TODAY (THURSDAY).

MR AKERS-JONES WAS SPEAKING AT THE GRADUATION OF STUDENTS OF THE HONG KONG COTTON SPINNERS ASSOCIATION PRE-VOCATIONAL SCHOOL, KHAI CHUNG.

+THERE ARE 13 PRE-VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS BUT THIS IS CLEARLY NOT ENOUGH WHEN THIS YEAR ALONE THERE ARE 13 000 APPLICATIONS FOR LESS THAN 3 000 PRE-VOCATIONAL SCHOOL PLACES, HE SAID.

TO MEET THE SHORTFALL, BY SEPTEMBER 1984 THERE SHOULD BE AN ADDITIONAL 12 PRE-VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS, 10 OF WHICH WOULD BE IN THE NEW TERRITORIES, WITH SOME SCHOOLS OPENING IN SEPTEMBER, 1983.

MOREOVER ENGINEERING SCIENCE, MARINE ENGINEERING AND SHEET METAL WORKS WERE BEING INTRODUCED INTO THE CURRICULUM.

+THE OVERWHELMING DEMAND FOR PLACES IN PRE-VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS PROVIDES THE PROOF THAT THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF HONG KONG ARE NOT, AS IS OFTEN SAID, NO LONGER INTERESTED IN INDUSTRIAL WORK AND ARÉ LOOKING ONLY FOR WHITE COLLAR WORK, MR AKERS-JONES SAID.

+OUR ABILITY TO FACE THE CHALLENGES OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC CIRCUMSTANCES LIES IN THE STRENGTH OF OUR INDUSTRY, AND IN YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS TODAY, AND IN YOUR GOVERNMENT'S ABILITY TO PROVIDE THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM NECESSARY TO MAINTAIN A STRONG AND PROGRESSIVE INDUSTRIAL SECTOR.+

MR AKERS-JONES TOLD THE 244 GRADUATING STUDENTS THAT THE IR SCHOOL WAS OPENED IN SEPTEMBER 1975, AS A RESULT OF THE FORESIGHT, ENDEAVOUR AND GENEROSITY OF THE PAST CHAIRMEN AND MEMBERS OF THE HONG KONG COTTON SPINNERS ASSOCIATION.

THE SCHOOL AUTHORITIES HAD, BY THEIR CONCERN, ENSURED THAT GRADUATING STUDENTS HAD NO DIFFICULTY IN SECURING EMPLOYMENT IN THE TEXTILE AND ENGINEERING INDUSTRIES AND, IN TURN, THESE GRADUATES HAD BEEN MAKING AN INVALUABLE CONTRIBUTION TO THE ECONOMIC WELL-BEING OF HONG KONG.

+NOW YOUR SCHOOL WILL START FORM IV IN SEPTEMBER, AND SOME OF YOU GRADUATING THIS YEAR WILL BE ABLE TO PURSUE YOUR STUDIES AT SENIOR SECONDARY LEVEL HERE,+ MR AKERS-JONES SAID.

THE SCHOOL ACCOMMODATES ABOUT 1 100 STUDENTS IN 25 CLASSES COMPRISING NINE FORM I CLASSES, EIGHT FORM II CLASSES AND EIGHT FORM CLASSES.

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