TNAG-0658-FCO40-807-Policy-of-Government-of-Hong-Kong-on-education-1977 — Page 124

C.S. 166

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XCC(77)46

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Regarding the future development of technical institutes, which is the subject of Chapter IV, the Working Party envisages a continuation of the present pattern of courses and rejects the intro- duction of "Liberal Studies" as a course subject at this stage, though it envisages a broadening in the vocational relevance of the courses offered. It envisages that the overall provision in technical institutes might continue to be divided 85:15 between technical and commercial courses, without the development of a "commercial" institute. It envisages also that 80% of the technical courses will continue to be at the craft level and the remaining 20% at the technician level. As the planned total output of technicians from the technical institutes and the Polytechnic will be considerably in excess of that of craftsmen, even if the Tuen Mun Technical Institute is built, it is therefore important that the proportion of craft courses in the institutes should not be allowed to fall, bearing in mind that there are at present three times as many craftsmen in industry as there are technicians (see Table C, paragraph 2, 17). A small technician element within a technical institute is nonetheless valuable, and the introduction of a common credit unitary system between technician programmes of study at the institutes and the Polytechnic as noted in paragraphs 4. 29-4.31, will enhance mobility between institutions.

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In Chapter V the Working Party presents a case for awarding limited financial assistance to registered post-secondary colleges in the form of a discretionary grant. This grant would replace the existing loan scheme for students at the Baptist College, as it would have the same object of enabling the Colleges to keep tuition fees at a reasonable level. The Working Party believes that the assistance provided to registered post-secondary colleges should be on a uniform basis, and that the present arrangements, whereby various forms of assistance have been granted to the Baptist College on an ad hoc basis but none to Shue Yan College, apart from grant of land at nil premium, need to be changed. It has noted also that it would be difficult to exert the necessary control over the colleges that would be necessary if they were granted other forms of subvention than a discretionary grant, without altering the status of the colleges as private institutions. The Working Party makes this recommendation because it considers that advantage should be taken of existing facilities where these are of adequate standard and where demand exists and because it anticipates strong public reaction if a college were forced to close. However, it does not regard the post-secondary colleges as suitable for development, believing that growth in tertiary education can best take place through the universities and the Polytechnic, and accordingly it proposes that any scheme of financial assistance should be linked with a policy of curtailing overall numbers at the registered post-secondary colleges to their present population of 4, 500. As facilities at the Baptist College are already overcrowded, a reduction of its student intake would be desirable.

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