XN000022-1996-06-05 — Page 49

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In October 1995, the relevant subject committees of the Curriculum Development Council and the Hong Kong Examinations Authority set up a joint working party to review the full range of computer education syllabuses from Secondary 1 to 7 in order to ensure that they keep up with the changing needs of the 21st century. The working party has proposed to include computer technology developments and applications such as Internet and multimedia technology in the syllabuses; and to encourage the use of information technology and the application of specific software to deal with the day-to-day problems. The target of the working party is to have the draft revised syllabuses ready for public consultation by early 1997.

The Education Department provides computer facilities to support the computer curriculum in secondary schools and processes the applications centrally. It usually takes about 1 to 2 months to complete a tender exercise. The process may be extended to 2 to 3 months for schools requiring room conversion to house the computer facilities. We are not aware of any problem of approved computer facilities not matching up with developments in computer technology by the time the schools have obtained approval to purchase such facilities, particularly as the lead time is relatively short.

Communication equipment for ambulance staff

Following is a question by the Hon David Li Kwok-po and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Peter Lai, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):

Question:

It was reported that the ambulance staff of the Fire Services Department (FSD) who were endeavouring to rescue unconscious passengers in the MTR trains on 6 May 1996 were hamstrung by a lack of walkie-talkies and mobile phones. In view of this, will the Government inform this Council whether it will seek funds for the acquisition of such equipment and, if so, what the estimated total cost is and when such equipment will be available for use by the ambulance staff of the FSD?