Miss M Lackey
3
17 AUGUST 1972
Commercial Relations & Exports Dept
Department of Trade & Industry
7.
Polytechnic for use in training the students.
Perhaps a leading
firm (like GEC) or a group in one industry might equip a laboratory for that particular branch of industry.
As I have already mentioned, the Japanese and some of our European competitors have already been almost hammering at the Polytechnic door offering their equipment.
8. To get this in perspective I should explain that the Polytechnic is at present no more than the old Technological Institute under another name and for the moment will be continuing in its present building where there is a preponderance of British equipment. Some of this is old, some of it needs to be up dated and there will be a need for additional equipment even in the present building as the Polytechnic begins to expand from its present 2,000 full time and 10,000 part time students to a target of double these numbers in two to three years time. In about two years time the Polytechnic should be moving to a new and larger building and there will then be a considerable need for training equipment.
The formation of the Polytechnic is, I am told, symbolic of a decision significantly to increase the effort and resources devoted to technical education. It has been recognised that Hong Kong is short of the middle level (ie Junior Engineer) technicians with practical rather than academic training, for whom there is a fast growing need in order to achieve this improvement in technical proficiency in industry which will be essential as labour becomes (as it already has) more expensive, and less freely available, and as competition in the less sophisticated products increases from other cheap labour countries. I am told that (although it has not yet been officially announced) it is the intention to open more technical Institutes in the course of the next few years and an additional Deputy Director of Education is in the process of being appointed exclusively to handle technical education (the man at present "designate" for the job is lir Kingwell at present Principal of the Filton Technical College). These Institutes will also need equipment and instructors. They will have to be financed largely by Government and there is no doubt that offers of gifts of equipment - and even of help over instructors - will be both welcome and tempting.
10 ̧If we make offers in the near future, the probability is that the
Polytechnic will accept ours rather than anybody elses, but they will have to be made fairly soon and above all they must be specific, rather than mere expressions of vague interest to be
manifested at/
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