TNAG-1073-FCO40-1323-Policy-of-the-Government-of-Hong-Kong-on-education-including-1981 — Page 319

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recurrent expenditure or 78.6 per cent of total expenditure (disregarding

appropriations-in-aid). Similarly, under Head 42 (Education subventions),

96.6 per cent of expenditure arising from the provisions of the Code of

Aid for Primary Schools is allocated to salary grants and provident fund

payments (92.6 per cent in the case of the Code of Aid for Secondary

Schools) in respect of annually recurrent expenditure.

5.51

The development of education in Hong Kong since the end of

World War II has led to a confusing variety of financial arrangements in

respect of subvented institutions. In recent years the gradual absorption

of some categories of school into the wholly aided sector has reduced the

number of different modes of financing, but there is still a great deal of

untidiness in the system, making for administrative complexity which school

authorities find irritating, and (more seriously) a marked unevenness of

standards between different categories of school, at least where the stan-

dards are determined mainly by the levels of funds available. A strongly-

held view in educational circles is that in the interests of social justice

uniform financial standards should be made available to all schools

contributing to the provision of universal, free and compulsory education,

together with more generous provision of resources to meet the needs of

less able pupils. With emphasis necessarily on the provision of places

(as shown above) at a time of very rapid public-sector expansion, a certain

amount of ad hoc development is still, however, inevitable and qualitative

measures at standards markedly higher than the acceptable minima are not

possible on a large scale in competition with other public services. But

it was considered preferable to implement a basic nine-year school course

as soon as possible, even though its infrastructure had not yet been fully

developed, than to delay it for an indefinite period in order to provide ·

a firmer basis for its support. As chapter 7 shows, there is nevertheless

a growing emphasis on qualitative development within the school system.

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