XN000022-1981-10-02 — Page 6

5

-

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1981

TOPLEY HAS HIGH HOPES OF EDUCATION REVIEW

****

THE CURRENT OVERALL REVIEW OF EDUCATION OFFERED A MOST WELCOME OPPORTUNITY FOR AN IMPARTIAL APPRAISAL OF THE PRESENT STATE OF EDUCATION IN HONG KONG AND OF THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF EDUCATION POLICY, THE SECRETARY FOR EDUCATION, MR KENNETH TOPLEY SAID TODAY AT A LUNCHEON MEETING OF THE LIONS CLUB OF HONG KONG EAST.

MR TOPLEY SAID HE BELIEVED THAT WE HAD REACHED THE POINT IN OUR EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT WHERE THERE WAS CONSIDERABLE POTENTIAL BENEFIT TO BE GAINED FROM AN INTERNATIONAL REVIEW.

+JUST ABOUT EVERYBODY IN HONG KONG HAS AN OPINION ABOUT ONE ASPECT OR ANOTHER OF OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM, HE STATED.

+THE REVIEW WILL ENABLE US TO TAKE STOCK OF WHAT WE HAVE ACHIEVED AND HELP US TO SEE OUR FUTURE NEEDS MORE CLEARLY.+

IT WAS RIGHT, HE SAID, THAT THE REVIEW SHOULD BE CARRIED OUT BY AN INTERNATIONAL PANEL, AS THIS WOULD ENSURE AN OBJECTIVE THIRD-PARTY APPROACH TO OUR PROBLEMS, SHARPENED BY THE PANEL'S EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE OF EDUCATION IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD. HOWEVER, HE WAS CONFIDENT THAT THE PANEL'S THINKING WOULD BE INFLUENCED BY THE WISHES OF THE HONG KONG PUBLIC, WHOM THE EDUCATION SYSTEM WAS DESIGNED TO SERVE.

POINTING OUT THAT THE PANEL WOULD BE ARRIVING IN HONG KONG IN THREE WEEKS' TIME FOR THEIR FIRST JOINT MEETING, MR TOPLEY EXPLAINED THAT FOR SOME MONTHS MEMBERS HAD BEEN STUDYING AT THEIR HOME BASES THE PRINCIPAL POLICY DOCUMENTS CONCERNING HONG KONG EDUCATION, TOGETHER WITH INFORMATION ON THE EDUCATION SYSTEM, THEY WERE ALSO LOOKING VERY CLOSELY AT THE WRITTEN REPRESENTATIONS RECEIVED FROM INDIVIDUALS, ASSOCIATIONS AND INTEREST GROUPS IN RESPONSE TO THE OPEN INVITATION ISSUED EARLIER THIS YEAR. REPRESENTATIONS COVERED A VERY WIDE RANGE OF TOPICS.

THESE

MR TOPLEY SAID THAT WHILE HE WAS SURE THAT THE PANEL'S CONCLUSIONS WOULD BE SOUNDLY BASED AND TAKE FULLY INTO ACCOUNT THE MANY AND VARIED VIEWS HELD BY THE PUBLIC, WE SHOULD NOT EXPECT FORMAL PRONOUNCEMENTS ON EVERY LAST DÉTAIL OF HONG KONG EDUCATION.

♦THE PANEL WILL BE CONCERNED, RATHER, WITH THE MAIN LINES OF EDUCATIONAL POLICY, THOUGH THIS MIGHT WELL ENTAIL THE EXAMINATION OF SIGNIFICANT DETAIL WHERE THIS HAS DETERMINED POLICY, HE SAID.

MR TOPLEY SAID THERE WAS NO SHORTAGE OF IDEAS ABOUT EDUCATION AMONG THE HONG KONG PUBLIC.

+IN TACKLING OUR EDUCATIONAL PROBLEMS, HE STATED, WE MUST RECOGNISE THE COMPLEXITY OF THE ISSUES. YOU CAN'T SIMPLY PRODUCE

A LIST OF THINGS TO BE DONE AND THEN KNOCK THEM OFF ONE BY ONE AS THOUGH THEY WERE COMPLETELY FREE-STANDING.

/+EDUCATION IS