TNAG-0473-FCO40-538-Hong-Kong-government-policy-on-education-1974 — Page 26

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the old Secondary School Entrance Examination (SSEE) at age 11-12, and instead to introduce a new Junior Certificate of Education (JCE) at age 14. This will serve both as a leaving certificate for those who are going no further and as an entrance exam to the Senior Secondary forms. This proposal has aroused controversy and some opposition in Hong Kong, mainly on the ground that it is a one-shot exam which will determine whether a child shall immediately leave school or have a chance of further education. Educationalists are

concerned about the strain on the children.

5.

The White Paper also recommends that the decision whether the language of instruction should be English or Chinese, should be left to individual schools. This recommendation has also given rise to a certain amount of criticism by the public who contend that the Government have shirked responsibility over the issue, when it should have given a clear lead.

6.

The provision of places for all children up to the age of 14 is welcome. Both the scope and the time scale of the programme are better than envisaged in the Green Paper (Junior Secondary places for 80% of the age group by 1981) will remove one of the main criticisms of the educational system in Hong Kong, that children who have completed their primary schooling at the age of 12, are left in limbo because there are no secondary school places for them, and they cannot legally start work until the age of 14. As the White Paper points out, the financial burden will be heavy, particularly at a time of financial stringency and when the Government is already committed to a substantial housing and social services programme.

21 November 1974

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