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Special Education

Some Members have expressed concern on special education. This subject was discussed at length in a motion debate in this Council in June this year. I shall not repeat the details here. I just wish to emphasise two points. First, integration has been and will continue to be at the heart of our policy on special education. To support this policy, we have developed over the years a comprehensive network of services to ensure that as many children with special education needs as possible are educated alongside their peers in ordinary schools. Secondly, we look forward to receiving the recommendations arising from the Board of Education's review of special education and will examine them positively.

I leave Education by restating its two very important goals. One is to develop the character and potential of our youngsters to enable them to lead a full, meaningful and dignified life. The other is to train up a large enough pool of people with the necessary knowledge and skills to meet the ever growing demands of the economy and our society at large. This brings me to manpower.

Manpower

It has been suggested by some members that we do not have a manpower policy. This is simply not true. Government's policy is to ensure that there is a stable and well-motivated workforce to support our economic growth. Also, we aim to maintain in Hong Kong a level of labour standards which compares favourably with those of our neighbouring countries with similar economic developments and social- cultural background.

Our policy objectives are geared towards meeting the requirements of our economy both in the short and in the long term. In pursuance of this, the Education and Manpower Branch conducts manpower studies regularly to assess the kind of education which the working population should possess. These studies provide statistical projections of manpower supply and requirements by educational levels for the purpose of assessing whether under existing and planned education provisions, the mix of manpower supply in terms of educational levels will be broadly in line with the future needs of the economy. The latest report published in 1994 projected our manpower requirements up to the year 2001. I am considering whether it will be useful to attempt an update in advance of the 1996 Census exercise.

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