TNAG-1449-FCO40-1953-Minutes-and-Hansards-of-the-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-1986 — Page 77

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(b)

Secondly, the age structure of the population

is not static. The number of children in a

given age group will vary over time. A bulge

in the number of primary school children will

be followed later by a bulge in the number of

secondary school children and it is not

possible to expand and contract physical supply

in line with these variations.

(c) Thirdly, the geographical distribution of the

population will also vary over time, so that a

movement of population into the New Territories

will result in increased demand there, coupled

with decreased demand in the Urban Area.

Given, moreover, that the age structure of

these new communities is often highly atypical,

the accurate planning of school provision is

extremely difficult.

3.

The objective is not so much to balance the

supply of and demand for secondary places on a District

basis, which would be extremely costly, as to minimise the

amount of travelling time for students overall. Work is

in hand on a computer model which should provide much

better information on the desirable location of new

schools and of schools reprovisioned from areas of surplus

supply. This will enable us, over time, to achieve a

over