XN000022-1984-11-14 — Page 7

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1984

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HK SHOULD KEEP RICH VARIETY OF SCHOOLS

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IT WAS VITAL FOR HONG KONG'S FUTURE SOCIAL STABILITY AND ECONOMIC PROSPERITY THAT ITS RICH VARIETY OF SCHOOLS SHOULD CONTINUE THE CHIEF SECRETARY, SIR PHILIP HADDON-CAVE, SAID TODAY (WEDNESDAY).

THESE SCHOOLS SHOULD CONTINUE TO EDUCATE CHILDREN IN THE MANY PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITIONS WHICH THRIVE AMICABLY SIDE BY SIDE IN HONG KONG, SIR PHILIP SAID AT THE SPEECH DAY OF ST STEPHEN'S COLLEGE AND THE OPENING OF ITS NEW ADMINISTRATION BUILDING IN STANLEY.

+IT HAS BEEN SAID THAT HONG KONG IS A NATURALLY ECUMENICAL PLACE AND IF THIS IS SO, IT IS BECAUSE OF OUR TOLERANCE OF A WIDE SPECTRUM OF BELIEFS.

+ IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT THIS SPIRIT OF TOLERANCE IS PERPETUATED IN THE FUTURE AND THAT IT IS FOSTERED AND SUPPORTED BY OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM, HE STATED.

HE SAID IT WAS A REASSURANCE TO US ALL AND TO THE GENERATIONS OF STAFF AND STUDENTS AND PARENTS WHO WILL COME AFTER US+, THAT THE DRAFT SINO-BRITISH AGREEMENT ENSURES THAT EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF ALL KINDS MAY RETAIN THEIR AUTONOMY.

+IN THIS CONTEXT, IT IS OF SPECIAL SIGNIFICANCE TO SCHOOLS LIKE ST STEPHEN'S THAT PARTICULAR MENTION IS MADE IN THE AGREEMENT OF INSTITUTIONS 'RUN BY RELIGIOUS AND COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS' SIR PHILIP SAID.

HE FOUND IT MOST GRATIFYING TO SEE A SCHOOL EVOLVE AND GROW IN THE WAY ST STEPHEN'S HAD DONE.

OVER THE PAST 80 YEARS, IT HAD GROWN FROM VERY SMALL BEGINNINGS TO ONE OF HONG KONG'S BEST KNOWN AND MOST PRESTIGIOUS SCHOOLS, FROM AN ENROLMENT OF ONLY SIX STUDENTS TO TODAY'S 1 100.

ITS FACILITIES, BREADTH OF THE CURRICULUM AND RANGE OF EXTRA- CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES HAD EXPANDED BEYOND RECOGNITION, HE SAID.

+ALL THIS IS A REFLECTION OF OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM AS A WHOLE, WHICH IS IN A CONSTANT STATE OF EVOLUTION TO MEET HONG KONG'S CHANGING NEEDS AND CIRCUMSTANCES, HE ADDED.

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