XN000022-1984-10-24 — Page 16

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 1984

DR HO ALSO SAID THAT DECISIONS ON THE USE OF CHINESE AS A MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS MUST BE MADE WITHOUT DELAY TO RAISE THE PROFICIENCY OF STUDENTS IN USING BOTH CHINESE AND ENGLISH BEFORE COMPLETING THE IR EDUCATION.

IT WAS MOST HEARTENING, HE SAID, TO LEARN THAT THE GOVERNMENT WAS PAYING ATTENTION TO THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE REPORT ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CHINESE LANGUAGE FOUNDATION AND IN PARTICULAR TO THE PRODUCTION OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS IN CHINESE.

+ IT CAN BE ANTICIPATED THAT MORE CONTACTS WITH CHINA IN A WIDE RANGE OF ECONOMIC, TRADING, CULTURAL, SOCIAL AND SPORTS ACTIVITIES WILL TAKE PLACE, HE SAID.

+ IT IS THEREFORE THE MOST OPPORTUNE TIME TO CONSIDER WAYS AND MEANS OF RAISING THE GENERAL STANDARD OF THE CHINESE LANGUAGE IN THE TERRITORY, AS A CONCRETE MEASURE TO PREPARE HONG KONG FOR ITS RE-INTEGRATION INTO THE CHINESE SOVEREIGNTY.+

DR HO SAID IT WAS A COMMON FACT IN HONG KONG THAT A PERSON WITH A CHINESE SECONDARY SCHOOL EDUCATION WAS NORMALLY LIMITED TO

POOR A RANGE OF JOBS CHARACTERISED BY RESTRICTED MOBILITY PROMOTION PROSPECTS, A MEAGRE SALARY AND A LOW STATUS WHEN COMPARED WITH HIS OR HER COUNTERPART WITH AN ENGLISH SECONDARY SCHOOL EDUCATION.

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+THIS STATE OF AFFAIRS MUST BE REDRESSED AT THE EARLIEST POSSIBLE TIME, HE SAID.

THE COMMUNITY, HE SAID, LOOKED TO THE GOVERNMENT FOR VIGOROUS LEADERSHIP IN ELEVATING THE POSITION AND STATUS OF THE CHINESE LANGUAGE IN HONG KONG. +AS A MATTER OF FACT THE GOVERNMENT HAD MORE CONSIDERABLE EFFORT IN THIS REGARD, HE SAID.

ON PUBLIC ASSISTANCE DR HO SAID THERE WERE TWO CATEGORIES OF RECIPIENTS WHOSE SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES AND NEEDS WARRANTED COMPASSIONATE CONSIDERATION.

THE FIRST GROUP WERE WIDOWS WITH YOUNG CHILDREN.

+NOWADAYS, REARING CHILDREN WITH A DECENT LIVING STANDARD REQUIRES AN EXPENDITURE NORMALLY LARGER THAN THE PUBLIC ASSISTANCE PAYMENT,+ DR HO SAID.

THE SECOND GROUP CONSISTED OF CHRONICALLY SICK PERSONS WHO WERE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR SICK LEAVE UNDER THE EMPLOYMENT ORDINANCE AND WHOSE ILLNESS HAD RENDERED THEM INCAPABLE OF WORK FOR A PROLONGED PERIOD OF TIME, BUT WHO WERE NOT PERMANENTLY DISABLED.

THE NEEDS OF THIS GROUP OF PEOPLE WERE OFTEN BEYOND WHAT PUBLIC ASSISTANCE WAS DESIGNED FOR.

/+TO ALLEVIATE