XN000022-1992-10-09 — Page 22

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9,

1992

21

F

IN THE PART ON

THE CLASS SIZE SO WHY CAN'T

QUESTION:

MR PATTEN, IN YOUR POLICY SPEECH, EDUCATION, YOU' SAID THERE WILL BE SMALLER CLASSES WILL BE REDUCED TO 35 AND IT WILL START FROM PRIMARY 1. YOU BE MORE GENEROUS AND PUT THE SAME RESOURCES INTO SECONDARY SCHOOLS AND DO THE SAME FOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS, OR DO YOU THINK THAT SECONDARY EDUCATION IS LESS IMPORTANT THAN PRIMARY EDUCATION?

THOUGH I GRANDMOTHER I SAID

GOVERNOR :

I THINK THAT BOTH ARE EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, SHOULD ADMIT AT THIS POINT, THAT MY GRANDPARENTS, BOTH MY AND MY GRANDFATHER, WERE HEAD TEACHERS OF PRIMARY SCHOOLS.

IN MY SPEECH THAT WE WOULD BE EMPLOYING OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS AN ADDITIONAL 2,200 TEACHERS, THAT WE WOULD BE BEGINNING TO REDUCE CLASS SIZES FROM 40 TO 35, AS YOU SAY, STARTING IN PRIMARY 1 AND WORKING OUR WAY THROUGH THE SYSTEM. BUT I ALSO SAID THAT IN ADDITION TO RECRUITING NEW TEACHERS FOR PRIMARY SCHOOLS BEGINNING FROM SEPTEMBER NEXT YEAR, WE'D ALSO, AS FROM THE FOLLOWING YEAR, START TO RECRUIT NEW TEACHERS, ADDITIONAL TEACHERS, FOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS AS WELL., BECAUSE IT IS IMPORTANT TO RECOGNISE THE BURDEN ON TEACHERS AT ALL LEVELS OF EDUCATION.

A RESULT OF THE PROPOSALS THAT I'VE PUT FORWARD IS THAT IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS, THE RATIO OF PUPILS TO TEACHERS WILL FALL FROM 27-1 TO 24-1, AND IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS FROM 22-1 TO 20-1. SO I VERY MUCH HOPE THAT WE WILL BE ABLE TO MEET THE SORT OF OBJECTIVES WHICH YOU'VE SET, EVEN IF WE CAN'T DO IT QUITE AS QUICKLY AS YOU WANT IT.

IT то

OF

I AM SORRY THAT WE HAVE TO CLOSE THE MEETING NOW. IS GENUINELY THE CASE THAT WE HAVE TO BE OUT OF THE HALL WE HAVE BE OUT OF THE HALL BY FIVE MINUTES AGO. BUT THERE ARE TWO GROUPS PEOPLE THAT I WOULD LIKE TO THANK. FIRST OF ALL, I WOULD LIKE ΤΟ THANK THE INTERPRETERS. I APOLOGISE FOR THE FACT THAT I CANNOT SPEAK

CANTONESE BUT YOU HAVE BEEN VFRY PATIENT WITH ME THIS EVENING. SECONDLY, I WANT TO THANK ALL OF YOU, BOTH FOR COMING THIS EVENING AND FOR,

ON THE WHOLE, ASKING SUCH BRIEF QUESTIONS, WHICH HAS ENABLED TO INCLUDE MANY MORE QUESTIONERS THAN HAPPENED LAST NIGHT.

US

I HOPE THAT YOU'LL ALLOW ME TO COME TO YOUR COMMUNITY AGAIN TO ANSWER QUESTIONS. WHEN I NEXT COME, ANY OF YOU WHO WERE HERE TONIGHT AND WEREN'T ABLE TO ASK QUESTIONS, WILL OF COURSE BE CALLED FIRST, PROVIDED WE BELIEVE YOU. IN CASE ANYONE DOUBTED IT, YOU HAVE DEMONSTRATED THIS EVENING HOW SENSIBLY AND RESPONSIBLY PEOPLE IN HONG KONG CAN DEBATE POLITICAL ISSUES AND THAT IS SOMETHING WHICH I CAN ASSURE YOU, MAKĖS ME FEEL MUCH MORE CONVINCED THAT IT'S RIGHT TO TRY TO GIVE YOU A BIGGER SHARE IN THE MANAGEMENT OF YOUR OWN FUTURE. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. AND DON'T FORGET TO TELL THE OWNER OF THE PIGEON RESTAURANT!

J

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