TNAG-1073-FCO40-1323-Policy-of-the-Government-of-Hong-Kong-on-education-including-1981 — Page 333

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(vi) the improvement of facilities (including recreational

facilities for students) in existing technical

institutes, together with better provision for

training technicians and higher technicians, and

the provision of larger sites for new technical

institutes.

Present position

6.17

The views of the 1979 Working Group were duly taken into

account by the UPGC during their March 1980 visitation and, following

further discussions between the government and the UPGC on the growth

rate for the universities in the 1981-84 triennium and related matters,

the Governor in Council decided in September 1980 that the UPGC should

be invited to work on an increase in the growth rate at the universities

in the 1981-84 triennium from 3 per cent to 4 per cent per annum and to

advise on the implications in terms of additional resources; that,

subject to the conclusions of the review referred to below, the UPGC

should be invited to continue to apply a growth rate of 4 per cent for

the 1984-87 triennium; that the whole field of distance learning,

including external degrees, should be pursued further with the UPGC; and

that a high-level official review with UPGC involvement should be

undertaken of Hong Kong's needs in the field of post-secondary and

technical education. As mentioned elsewhere the government has also

announced the introduction 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, and a longer-term scheme of financial

assistance for students intending to embark on tertiary courses in Britain

is also to be implemented. The validation of courses provided in