TNAG-1856-FCO40-2631-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-memoranda-and-minutes-of-me-1989 — Page 182

HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

28 June 1989 香港立法局 —— 一九八九年六月二十八日

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be done through the co-operation of the teachers who are supported and assisted by a professional team consisting of psychologists and educationists.

Within the Hong Kong context, it is necessary to decide whether these children should be placed in a special school or should they remain in an ordinary school which will devise suitable programmes for them. The Board of Education favoured the latter approach. Because segregation is not necessarily beneficial to the social development of a gifted child who may well one day become future leader of this community. However, the decision to offer school- based programmes in primary schools for gifted children does mean that heads, teachers and parents need to appreciate more fully the needs of these children and their psychological developments. There is also need for the development of resource materials and the establishment of a resource centre to assist teachers. Counselling services to support gifted children and their parents on improving communication skill and social adjustment are also necessary. The involvement of the community in the development of special programmes for gifted children is very important also. The Board of Education supported the proposal to implement a pilot project to be carried out in some 20 primary schools for three years, and have that approach extended to another 20 secondary schools in the third year. All the above measures carry resource implications. Therefore, the Education Commission will have to look at them within the framework of the review of nine-year free and compulsory education. Without wishing to pre-empt any discussion by the commission and the public on this issue, I would urge that, should these proposals receive public support, the Government should take positive and immediate steps to implement them.

Sir, I support the motion.

MR. TAI: Sir, the future United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child will give the world a clear message that every state has the obligation to protect the rights of their children.

It should be the natural responsibility for every parent to care and protect their children. The convention will stress responsibility. However, not every family will be able to fulfil such a requirement in the event of a parent's death, illness, unemployment, or other unfavourable social problem. The state must then intervene to provide the appropriate support for the family and children in need. The state's policy in this regard must be forward-looking and provide measures to support individuals and their families. This will be the basic philosophy of the Future United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.