TNAG-1363-FCO40-1809-Hong-Kong-Hansard-reports-and-minutes-of-the-meetings-of-the-1985 — Page 279

Revised

Question No. 3

Reply by the Hon. J.N. Henderson, OBE, JP, Secretary for Education and Manpower,

to a Question by the Hon. Alex Wu, CBE, JP, in Legislative Council on 12th June, 1985

Question: Can the Government inform this Council

when a decision will be taken on the recommendations contained in the Report of the Working Party on the Development of a Chinese Language Foundation submitted in March 1982, and, in particulaṛ, on the Report's recommendation concerning the publication of Chinese textbooks?

Answer:

sir,

The Working Party on the Development of a

Chinese Language Foundation, which Mr. Wu chaired,

correctly identified the lack of adequate Chinese

language textbooks as an inhibiting factor in raising the standard of Chinese language used by the community at large. It therefore recommended that, in promoting the better use of Chinese, a Chinese Language Foundation, if established, should give particular emphasis to the production of high quality textbooks in Chinese.

The Administration is at present examining a number of options as to how the production of textbooks written in Chinese should best be arranged. I anticipate that firm proposals on this, and on the other recommendations

of the Working Party, will hopefully be taken to the

Executive Council for advice within the next two or three months.

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