TNAG-1072-FCO40-1322-Policy-of-the-Government-of-Hong-Kong-on-education-1981 — Page 76

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4.6

that they would advise students strongly on the routes which they should follow. Members were satisfied that the academic subjects followed by students compensated for the three languages offered in the Polytechnic comparator course.

Members who visited the Secretarial Management Department felt that the staff were doing the very best they could with inadequate accommodation and inadequate office equipment. They would suggest again that additional money needs to be spent to bring the office equipment up-to-date given the nature of the programmes. The staff are well aware of their needs and should be encouraged to ask for the kind of equipment which is appropriate to education at Honours Diploma level.

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5.

5.1

5.2

5.3

5.4

MEETING WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTING

The aims of the Diploma are a compromise between a desire to cover some of the professional requirements of the Hong Kong Society of Accountants and the Association of Certified Accountants and a wish to educate the students more broadly. The result seemed to Members to place a very heavy burden on students. The two full-time staff and supporting part-time staff are available to cover the two years of the senior Diploma but only one of the final year courses is currently being taught.

Student entry qualifications are two 'A' levels and at present a high proportion of the students come from outside the Baptist College. This may, however, change. when the new basic programme output begins to feed through. The level of student entry as measured by 'A' level grades is significantly below that of the comparator course in the Polytechnic.

If

There are several problems about the student entry. the student has not got 'A' level or equivalent in Accounting and Economics these courses have to be taken in Year 1 of the diploma which means taking 4 semester courses in parallel. This means a very heavy student loading and also calls the sequential development of subject matter into question. In general there is little evidence that much thought has been given to the sequential and academic development of the programme, and, with the staff as at present constituted, there can be little confidence that they can teach particularly the Accounting content of the final year at an appropriate level.

Of the staff in post, only 2 are full-time; one who entered the College several years ago after retirement from the Chinese University and one who has been at the College for 11 years. There are 6 part-time staff, 2 of