TNAG-0473-FCO40-538-Hong-Kong-government-policy-on-education-1974 — Page 199

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the Forms I - III age-group.

By 1972, with universal

primary education a reality, the Government concluded the

time had come for a full study of the future development

of secondary education to be undertaken.

1.4

On 26th January 1973, the Governor appointed a

new Board of Education and asked it to submit a practical

policy for the expansion of secondary education. The

Board, under the chairmanship of the Honourable P.C. Woo,

C.B.E., J.P., included members of the Legislative Council,

representatives of a number of religious bodies which

manage secondary schools, the Vice-Chancellors of the two

Universities, the Director of the Polytechnic, an industrialist,

and an educationalist from the New Territories. The Board's

report was forwarded to the Governor on 11th October 1973

and tabled as a Green Paper in the Legislative Council on

31st October. In the foreword to the Green Paper it was

pointed out that, although the Government was aware of the

need for a substantial expansion of secondary education,

final conclusions upon the Board's recommendations would

not be reached until public reaction had been assessed.

Accordingly, members of the public were invited to comment

on the Green Paper before the end of January 1974.

1.5

During the next few months, a substantial number

of comments was received from official bodies, educational

organisations, and members of the public. As a result

of these representations, the Board reconsidered its earlier

recommendations, and put forward modified proposals, the

bulk of which have been incorporated in this Paper.

1.6

Hong Kong has no reason to be ashamed of its

progress in the provision of educational facilities

/since