recognized university degree as a means of attracting university graduates to the Interpreter/Translator Grade.
12. Basic to any attempt to ensure that the best possible candidate is admitted to Interpreter/Translator Grade is the proper selection machinery. We therefore recommend that the persons who have the basic academic qualifications for entry to the Grade should first pass a qualifying examination before they are considered for appointment. We further recommend that a realistic minimum qualifying standard should be established in consultation with the relevant faculties of the two Universities and other qualified persons. We must point out that due recogni- tion must be given to the fact that applicants for appointment to the Interpreter/Translator Grade may not have previous training in translation. Any minimum qualifying standard should con- sequently be regarded as indicating a candidate's language ability and his potential for development into a good translator.
13. We are informed that at present, Government does not provide any organized training for the Interpreter/Translator Grade. This, we feel, is regrettable since most new entrants are inevitably appointed on the basis of their potential to develop into good translators. However, such potential can only be developed through proper training, and accordingly we recommend that in the first year of service, an Interpreter/Translator should be given part-time training organized by the Government Training Division, preferably in conjunction with the relevant faculties of the two Universities. We also recommend that such part-time training should take the form of a short full-time induction course to be followed by part-time day-release courses and intermittent short full-time courses during the year.
14. At this stage, comments on the career structure of the Interpreter/Translator Grade may be called for. The present con- ditions of service of the Grade stipulate that an officer must have served a minimum of 5 years at the Class II level before he is eligible to sit a promotion examination, and it is only after he has passed this examination that he will be considered for promotion to the limited vacancies at the Class I level. The present propor- tion of Class I to Class II Interpreter/Translator posts stand at one to four unlike, for example, the Executive Grade which has
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similar entry qualifications and a ratio of one Class I post (carrying the same salary as I/T Class I) to every two Class II posts (which carry the same salary as I/T Class II). There is also no further prospect of promotion beyond I/T Class I. Consequently, the present structure of the I/T Grade tends to discourage the potentially good translator from joining and since there is so little incentive for the serving Interpreter/Translator to improve himself, the standard of the Grade tends to stagnate. Therefore, in order to attract candidates of a high calibre and to provide adequate incentive for existing I/Ts to improve themselves, we recommend that the career structure of the grade be revised on the following lines:
(a) that to make it possible for the able translator to advance quickly to a salary commensurate with his ability, the present qualifying period of service at the Class II level for promotion to Class I should be shortened from 5 to 2 years. However, before a Class II translator is eligible for promotion, he should have obtained the Advanced Transla- tion Certificate of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, or a Certificate of comparable standard offered by Government or the University of Hong Kong.
(b) that there should be a larger number of I/T Class I posts-
hence, we consider that the present proportion of 1 Class I post to every 4 Class II posts should be reviewed. We feel that a ratio of 1:2 would not be unreasonable.
(c) that there should be a senior Class of Interpreter/ Translator and posts in this Class should be created on the basis of the functional requirements of each department (i.e. where there is a sufficiently large establishment of I/Ts, or sufficiently specialized translation to warrant the creation of such posts). As a guide, we suggest that the salary scale for this senior class should be $3,904-$5,223 by 7 incre- ments, which is in accordance with our recommended scale for simultaneous interpreters.
15. The Interpreter/Translator Grade is at present adminis- tered by the General Grades Division of the Colonial Secretariat. The Division is also responsible for Executive Officers, Personal Secretaries, Typists, the General Clerical Service and Clerical Assistants and we are informed by the Principal Executive Officer
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