XN000022-1992-05-05 — Page 3

1

2

TUESDAY, MAY 5, 1992

"IT WOULD, HOWEVER, SEEM TO ME IMPERATIVE THAT, IN ADOPTING THIS APPROACH, THE NEEDS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF EACH PARTICULAR COUNTRY ARE CAREFULLY EXAMINED, AS THEY WILL CERTAINLY VARY CONSIDERABLY.

"COUNTRY PROGRAMMES NEED TO BE TAILOR-MADE AND THERE CAN BE NO ONE SOLUTION FOR ALL. I SEE IT AS EQUALLY IMPORTANT THAT PROGRAMMES SHOULD BE MONITORED AND REVIEWED ON A REGULAR BASIS SO THAT THEY CAN, WHERE NECESSARY, BE ADAPTED TO CHANGING ENVIRONMENTS.

WHILE HE RECOGNISED THAT IT WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE ΤΟ IMPLEMENT THIS RECOMMENDATION THIS YEAR, HE URGED THAT IT BE IMPLEMENTED AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE SO THAT THE PROPOSED THREE-YEAR ROLLING WORK PLAN FOR EACH BORROWING COUNTRY COULD BE COMPLETED AND SERVE AS A STRATEGIC PLANNING TOOL.

"THIS COUNTRY PROGRAMME APPROACH IS FULLY CONSISTENT WITH THE IMPORTANCE THE BANK HAS ALWAYS ATTACHED TO MAINTAINING SOUND AND EFFECTIVE POLICY DIALOGUES WITH BORROWING COUNTRIES.

"IT IS IMPORTANT FOR THE BANK TO CONTINUE TO SUPPORT POLICY REFORMS IN DEVELOPING MEMBER COUNTRIES (DMCS) THAT IMPROVE THE ENVIRONMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT," MR NENDICK SAID.

"BY STRENGTHENING THE ROLE OF POLICY DIALOGUE WITH INDIVIDUAL DMCS, POLICIES CAN BE MORE EFFECTIVELY ANALYSED AND, WHERE APPROPRIATE, CHANGES ADVOCATED, HE SAID.

"

"I AM SURE THAT, IN PROPOSING SUCH POLICY REFORMS, THE BANK WILL BE MINDFUL OF THE NEED FOR CLOSE CO-ORDINATION AT THE OPERATIONAL LEVEL WITH INSTITUTIONS SUCH AS THE WORLD BANK AND INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, WHICH UNDERTAKE SIMILAR CONSULTATIONS WITH DMCS ON REGULAR CYCLES," MR NENDICK SAID.

PUBLIC REASSURED OF SUFFICIENT QUALIFIED MATRICULANTS

TO FILL FIRST-YEAR-FIRST-DEGREE PLACES

* * *

THERE SHOULD BE SUFFICIENT QUALIFIED MATRICULANTS WITH AT LEAST TWO A-LEVEL PASSES AND A PASS IN USE OF ENGLISH TO FILL THE 11,000 FIRST-YEAR-FIRST-DEGREE (FYFD) PLACES IN 1992-93.

THIS WAS STATED BY THE SECRETARY FOR EDUCATION AND MANPOWER, MR JOHN CHAN, WHEN HE MET MEMBERS OF THE JOINT ACTION OF THE EDUCATION SECTOR THIS (TUESDAY) AFTERNOON.

DURING THE MEETING, THE ACTION GROUP EXPRESSED CONCERN OVER A LIKELY SHORTAGE OF QUALIFIED MATRICULANTS TO MEET THE PLANNED PROVISION OF FYFD PLACES IN THE SEVEN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS FUNDED BY THE UNIVERSITY AND POLYTECHNIC GRANTS COMMITTEE (UPGC) IN 1992-93.

THE GROUP