TNAG-1723-FCO40-2436-Minutes-and-Hansards-of-the-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-1988 — Page 38

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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 13 January 1988

MR. CHAN KAM-CHUEN: Sir, in the yester-years, the Urban Services Departme used to serve these notices to landlords. And as landlords hold usually two or the months' rental deposit on the tenant, why should notice not be served on the landlords so that they can ensure that the tenants remove those dangerous signs before evicting?

SECRETARY FOR LANDS AND WORKS: Sir, I think that Mr. K. C. CHAN has more or less broadly described the means by which the Buildings Ordinance Office goes about its job.

Guidance work in secondary schools

3.

MRS. FAN asked: The Education Department issued a set of guidelines entitled 'Guidance Work in Secondary Schools-A Suggested Guide for Principals and Teachers' in September 1986. Will Government inform this Council what feedback has been received since these guidelines were published and what steps have been taken to assess their effectiveness?

SECRETARY FOR EDUCATION AND MANPOWER: As Mrs. FAN says, the guidelines were issued in the autumn of 1986. The Education Department emphasised at the time that the guidelines were suggestions only and would be reviewed after one year. Since then the department has done its best to find out from schools how the guidelines are working in practice. It has issued a questionnaire and studied schools' statistical records on guidance work; and when Education Department officers visit schools they use the opportunity to discuss the issue with them.

The purpose of this review is to assess the usefulness of the guidelines, find out how much schools are using them and bring to light any practical difficulties which schools may have encountered.

The material from the review was assembled in October 1987. In general the response from schools has been favourable, but the conclusions still have not been analysed in detail. They are now being analysed in more detail by a working group in the Education Department and we hope to have a full report ready for issue to schools in May this year.

MRS. FAN: Sir, OMELCO's Complaint Section has received a submission from a group of teachers on this matter. One of their compaints is that there is insufficient training and there is no professional person for them to turn to for advice. Is the Government aware of this and what has been done to ensure that teachers are well supported in professional expertise and are trained?

SECRETARY FOR EDUCATION AND MANPOWER: Sir, there are two aspects to this question. One is on the training of teachers and the other is on resources provided to them. On training, the Education Department appreciates the