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social security has risen sharply, the level of assistance offered to the assisted hardly catches up with inflation. As the aging population
becomes a more serious problem and people's expectation in the quality
of life becomes higher, the Government expenditure on social security
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will increase and yet not be sufficient to cover their retirement needs.
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Sir, with these remarks, I support the motion.
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rs Seling CHOW
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Mrs. CHOW: Sir, for a community that is totally committed to the cause of providing education opportunities to anyone up to the age of fifteen 15
and beyond that whỏ qualifies for them, we should be particularly proud
of the expansion and improvement, in both quality and quantity, of our tertiary education. Regrettably, I do not think that the upgrading of the quality of education in our schools has kept in step with that of
the higher levels. With the introduction of compulsory education for
nine years, the migration of the population to new towns and the phasing
out of the JSEA, the ambitious school building programme has only been
able to address the fundamental issue of coping with numbers, of side-
stepping a number of measures which are most necessary if we want to see a distinct improvement in the quality of education in our schools.
whole-day school
In my first policy debate in October, 1981, I called for the policy of
for whole-day school to be examined and adopted, I saw it as an essential means to alleviate the tremendous pressure experienced by both teachers
and students in half-day sessions. The system would appeal to parents, especially working parents, as the ideal foil against mischief or bad influence for their children in the afternoons. I was glad to be 30 assured by the then Secretary for Education that Government had indeed
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adopted whole-day school as a policy, and was moving in that direction. Now, seven years has passed. How far have we moved down that road?
The facts that the overwhelming majority of our primary schools are
still bi-sessional, that the Education Department is still engaged in a long drawnout process of assessing how many tables and benches each individual school might need before funds could be requested,
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.