XN000022-1995-12-12 — Page 6

- 5 -

Government welcomes language proficiency draft report

The Secretary for Education and Manpower, Mr Joseph W P Wong today (Tuesday) welcomed the publication of the Education Commission No 6 Report "Enhancing Language Proficiency: A Comprehensive Strategy" for public consultation.

"The Administration supports the general thrust of the report and sees the vital need for improving language proficiency of our students. Language proficiency in English and Chinese, including Putonghua is important to Hong Kong's continued development as an international business and financial centre and for Hong Kong's expanding political and economic links with China," Mr Wong said.

Expressing the Government's gratitude toward the commission for drawing up wide-ranging recommendations after a thorough study of the issue in the past two years, Mr Wong said the Goverment would take a view after the Commission had finalised the recommendations.

He appealed to all sectors of the community to give their views and comments on this important issue during the six-week public consultation period which would end on January 31, 1996.

Mr Wong noted that among its 38 recommendations, the commission had proposed some major long-term measures including the setting up of a Standing Committee on Language Education and Research and requesting the Advisory Committee on Teacher Education and Qualifications to develop benchmark qualifications for language teachers.

Mr Wong said the Administration was looking forward to receiving the final recommendations from the commission early next year and would take a view on the way forward.

End