TNAG-1073-FCO40-1323-Policy-of-the-Government-of-Hong-Kong-on-education-including-1981 — Page 263

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Educational policy

4.2

The flow-chart (A) reproduced at appendix F represents the

normal process by which educational policy is now formulated, though

the demands of a particular situation may be such that policy proposals

do not go through all of the stages illustrated there. Much depends on

the importance or urgency of an issue. Minor matters within existing

policy and without significant financial implications may be settled

administratively within the Education Department after brief consultation

with those directly affected. However, major or complex matters

invariably entail more elaborate procedures over extended periods of

time: these are briefly detailed in the following paragraphs with

examples drawn from the development of policy in recent years.

4.3

Departmental or inter-

After a major educational issue has been identified, initial

decisions are taken by senior officers on the line of action to be

followed, and on the timing and the priority (given other commitments)

to be accorded to it: these decisions may be on an ad hoc basis within

the Government Secretariat or may be taken within a formal framework

(for example, in the Chief Secretary's Committee or the Senior Directorate

Meeting of the Education Department), depending on the nature and

complexity of the issue and its likely ambit. At this stage, decisions

are tentative and to some extent intuitive.

departmental working parties may be set up at this point, with terms of

reference which entail a wide-ranging exploration of issues related to

the main theme. This was the position in 1977, for example, when a

Working Party on Higher Education was convened under the chairmanship of

the Director of Education, with a nuclear membership drawn from the

Education Department, Social Services Branch, Finance Branch and UPGC

Secretariat and additional co-oped membership drawn from time to time

from the Home Affairs, Labour, and Census and Statistics departments.

In keeping with the flexible approach to policy formulation this Working