CONFIDENTIAL
FM FCO
TO PRIORITY HONG KONG
TELNO 1032
OF 2415OOZ MAY 90
CONFIDENTIAL
1
15261,4
MDLOAN 6027
HKB
290/1
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY
0 1 JUN 1990
DESK OFFICER
TOP COPY QDIST?
¿ INDEX
INFO PRIORITY BTC HONG KONG
15
YOUR TELNO 1558: EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE TO HONG KONG
1.
WE APPRECIATE THAT THERE WOULD BE ADVANTAGE IN ANNOUNCING OUR SUPPORT FOR THE IMMERSION ENGLISH LANGUAGE TRAINING SCHEME IN TIME TO HELP RAISE ENROLMENT IN THE ENGLISH ELECTIVE COURSES AT
THE COLLEGES OF EDUCATION THIS AUTUMN. WE ALSO SEE THE ATTRACTION OF BEING ABLE TO SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THIS INITIATIVE IN YOUR OCTOBER ADDRESS TO LEGCO. BUT IT WOULD BE MOST UNWISE TO MAKE ANY PREDICTION OR ANNOUNCEMENT UNTIL THE OUTCOME OF THE PES ROUND IS KNOWN IN THE AUTUMN. ALTHOUGH OUR MINISTERS HAVE APPROVED THE INCLUSION OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE TRAINING SCHEME IN OUR 1990 PES BID, THE PROSPECTS OF SUCCESS IN WHAT WILL BE A VERY DIFFICULT PES ROUND ARE FAR FROM CERTAIN. IT WOULD OBVIOUSLY BE
MOST UNDESIRABLE TO BUILD UP EXPECTATIONS WHICH THEN HAD TO BE
DISAPPOINTED.
2.
WE CANNOT PREDICT EXACTLY WHEN WE SHALL KNOW THE OUTCOME OF THE PES ROUND BUT WE WILL LET YOU KNOW IMMEDIATELY IF THERE .IS
ANY CHANCE THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO REFER TO THE SCHEME IN YOUR ADDRESS TO LEGCO.
3. AS FAR AS THE DETAILS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE TRAINING SCHEME ARE CONCERNED, WE CAN CONFIRM THAT THE OUTLINE SCHEME APPROVED BY MINISTERS PROVIDED FOR 300 PLACES TO BE MADE AVAILABLE EACH YEAR INCLUDING 30-40 LECTURERS FROM THE COLLEGES OF FURTHER EDUCATION.
THE FIGURE OF POUNDS 0.9 MILLION WAS BASED ON REVISED COSTINGS
SUPPLIED BY THE BRITISH COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE IN HONG KONG.
4.
IN VIEW OF THE FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS DESCRIBED IN PARA 1 ABOVE, WE CONCLUDED THAT IT WOULD BE UNREALISTIC TO SEEK TO EXPAND THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE TRAINING ELEMENT IN THIS YEAR'S PES BID. BUT WE WOULD BE HAPPY TO CONSIDER YOUR PROPOSALS REGARDING TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES FOR SCHOOL PRINCIPALS AND EXPERIENCED
TEACHERS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE 1991 PES BID.
5.
AS FAR AS THE HONG KONG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (HKUST) IS CONCERNED, MINISTERS HAVE ALREADY SEEN A DETAILED
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CONFIDENTIAL
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