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Mr Yam said: "We are grateful to Mr McDonough for his personal support to the work of HKMA. The Hong Kong dollar is linked to the US dollar. We all feel that the link has served Hong Kong well and will continue to do so through 1997."

Mr McDonough invited HKMA and PBOC to take part in a financial seminar to be hosted by the New York Fed on February 14, 1997.

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SCOLAR holds its second meeting

The Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (SCOLAR) decided at its meeting today (Tuesday) to set up a Database on Language Education and Research in Hong Kong.

The Committee Chairman, Dr Daniel Tse Chi-wai, said: "The Database will provide an updated, centralised and systematic source of information to assist the Committee in defining areas of research in language education."

The meeting also decided to adopt a long- and a short-term approach in dealing with the ECR6 priority areas.

The short-term approach includes:

the dissemination of the results of the Language Fund Projects to promote a positive awareness of language issues and language development programmes for public information;

the development of Vocational Programmes for English and Putonghua;

the investigation of the relationship between Use of English grades and the ability to cope with University study.

The more long-term approach is to identify priority areas for research. Members agreed that the areas which needed immediate attention are: the relationship between Chinese and Putonghua in the curriculum; language learning patterns for Hong Kong children acquiring their Mother Tongue; the Academic Aptitude Test and levels of language proficiency; and teacher training.

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