TNAG-1073-FCO40-1323-Policy-of-the-Government-of-Hong-Kong-on-education-including-1981 — Page 238

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of an emergency loan scheme for Hong Kong students already enrolled

on recognised first-degree (or equivalent) courses in Britain who

have been affected by the sharp increases in tuition fees for

overseas students. A longer-term scheme of financial assistance

for students intending to embark on tertiary courses in Britain is

also to be introduced. A review of the whole field of student

financing is now being undertaken by the government.

2.73 Adult and continuing education

Adult and continuing education

is provided by a wide range of organisations for widely varying

purposes. In the public sector both universities, the Polytechnic

and the Education Department are active in the field. In the private

sector activities tend to be centred on voluntary organisations such

as Caritas-Hong Kong (an agency of the Roman Catholic Church) and

the Young Women's Christian Association, on cultural organisations

such as the Goethe-Institut, the Alliance Française and the British

Council, and on educational establishments with extra-mural facilities,

such as the Hong Kong Baptist College. The field, however, is fragmented -

so much so, that at present it is difficult to obtain hard facts on

which a co-ordinated policy could be based. In this context even

the categorisations 'public' and 'private' are open to debate when

the complexities of financing are taken into account (the courses

offered by the extramural departments of the universities, for

example, are self-supporting, government expenditure being limited

by and large to administrative expenses, while on the other hand

some of the voluntary organisations in the private sector are now

receiving limited government subvention for specific projects which

observe principles laid down in the 1978 White Paper). Attempts to

draw the different strands of adult and continuing education together