HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 559
OFFICIAL REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS
Meeting of 29th September 1965
PRESENT
HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR (PRESIDENT)
SIR DAVID CLIVE CROSBIE TRENCH, KCMG, MC
HIS EXCELLENCY LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SIR DENIS STUART SCOTT O'CONNOR, KBE, CB
COMMANDER BRITISH FORCES
THE HONOURABLE MICHAEL DAVID IRVING GASS, CMG COLONIAL SECRETARY
THE HONOURABLE MAURICE HEENAN, QC
ATTORNEY GENERAL
THE HONOURABLE JOHN JAMES COWPERTHWAITE, CMG, OBE FINANCIAL SECRETARY
THE HONOURABLE KENNETH STRATHMORE KINGHORN DIRECTOR OF URBAN SERVICES
THE HONOURABLE ALEC MICHAEL JOHN WRIGHT
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS
DR THE HONOURABLE TENG PIN-HUI, QBE
DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES
THE HONOURABLE WILLIAM DAVID GREGG
DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION
THE HONOURABLE DAVID RONALD HOLMES, CBE, MC, ED DIRECTOR OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
THE HONOURABLE JOHN PHILIP ASERAPPA
DISTRICT COMMISSIONER, NEW TERRITORIES
THE HONOURABLE ROBERT MARSHALL HETHERINGTON, DFC DEPUTY ECONOMIC SECRETARY
THE HONOURABLE DHUN JEHANGIR RUTTONJEE, CBE
THE HONOURABLE KWAN CHO-YIU, CBE
THE HONOURABLE KAN YUET-KEUNG, QBE
THE HONOURABLE SIDNEY SAMUEL GORDON, QBE
THE HONOURABLE LI FOOK-SHU, OBE
THE HONOURABLE TSE YU-CHUEN, OBE
THE HONOURABLE KENNETH ALBERT WATSON, OBE
THE HONOURABLE WOO PAK-CHUEN, OBE
THE HONOURABLE GEORGE RONALD ROSS
THE HONOURABLE SZETO WAI
THE HONOURABLE WILFRED WONG SIEN-BING
THE HONOURABLE CHUNG SZE-YUEN
THE HONOURABLE MRS ELLEN LI SHU-PUI, OBE
MR ANDREW McDONALD CHAPMAN (Deputy Clerk of Councils)
ABSENT
THE HONOURABLE JOHN CRICHTON McDOUALL
SECRETARY FOR CHINESE AFFAIRS
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MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 15th September 1965, were confirmed.
PAPERS
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY, by Command of His Excellency the Governor, laid upon the table the following papers: —
Subject LN No
Sessional Paper, 1965:—
No 34—Annual Report by the Director of Civil Aviation for the year 1964-65. No 35—Annual Report by the Director of Marine for the year 1964-65.
No 36—Annual Report of the Accountant General with the Accounts of the Colony for the year 1964-65.
No 37—Annual Report of the Hong Kong Housing Authority for the period 1st April 1964 to 31st March 1965.
No 38—Annual Report by the Commissioner of Registration of Persons for the year 1964-65.
Salaries Commission Report 1965.
Statement of Accounts and the Report on the Administration of the Preventive Service Welfare Fund for the year ended 31st March 1965.
Report of the Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Loan Fund Committee for the year 1964-65.
Report on the Administration of the J. E. Joseph Trust Fund during the period 1st April 1964 to 31st March 1965.
Report of the Fish Marketing Organization for the year ended 31st March 1965.
Annual Report of the Sir Robert Black Trust Fund Committee for the year ending 31st March 1965.
Report of the Board of Management of the Hong Kong Tourist Association, 1964-65. Air Armament Practice Ordinance Chapter 94.
Air Armament Practice (Amendment of Schedules) Order 1965 .............. 123 Consular Conventions Ordinance 1951.
Consular Conventions (Kingdom of Belgium) Order 1965 ....................... 124
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He said: —Sir, included amongst these papers is the Main Report of the 1965 Salaries Commission, which was appointed to make recommendations on the general level of salaries and the principal conditions of service of all public officers in Hong Kong, and further to advise on the principles which should be followed in making future adjustments to the pay of the Civil Service. Annexed to the Main Report is the Interim Report of the Commission which was published in June. The recommendations of the Interim Report have in general already been adopted, although certain matters have had to be deferred for consideration with the Main Report of the Commission. I regret Sir, that I am unable at this stage to make an announcement regarding implementation of the Main Report except to say that it will now be most carefully studied in the light inter alia of the views of Heads of Depart ment, Staff Associations and Trade Unions, who are being consulted. As soon as possible thereafter recommendations will be submitted for the consideration of the Finance Committee of this Council.
I would like to take this opportunity to record the Government's appreciation to the Chairman and Members of the Commission for placing their time and services at the disposal of Government in the preparation of this comprehensive and wide ranging Report.
A Chinese translation of the Report has been prepared and is being distributed to staff unions. Departments and to the press. The translation will be printed and available on sale to the public in the near future.
QUESTIONS
MR Woo PAK-CHUEN, pursuant to notice, asked the following questions: —
(i) Since Government has now increased the fees for the secondary schools, what steps have been taken by Government to implement the other proposals contained in the White Paper on Education Policy which was approved by this Council on the 30th June, 1965?
(ii) Will Government inform this Council the number of free places allotted to students in (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools?
MR W. D. GREGG replied as follows: —
Your Excellency, since these two questions are closely related, I propose, with your permission, to answer both questions in a single reply.
I must first emphasize that Government has increased secondary school fees only in government secondary schools. These provide less
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than one-third of the total number of secondary places in the public sector of education and even with this fee increase the fees in government schools are still less than the unchanged fees in most aided schools. At the same time higher rates of remission have come into force in government secondary schools and these new remission rates will be exceeded in individual schools where necessary to meet any cases of genuine hardship. With regard to aided schools active consideration is being given to revising, simplifying and unifying the codes of aid. Pending the revision of the codes no alterations have been made in the standard fee for aided schools or in the levels of fee remission. I should like to add that, following my submissions on an individual project. Finance Committee is currently considering the effective date for implementing the White Paper recommendations that sponsors of new aided secondary schools should be eligible for an 80% subsidy towards the cost of buildings and equipment. The provision of such capital subsidies should eliminate the need for repayable interest-free loans and greatly reduce the subscriptions or tong fai charged, so bringing the actual fees for new aided schools much more closely into line with the fees for government secondary schools.
On the subject of free places, despite the fact that the returns are as yet incomplete, to date about 38,000 free or partially free places have been allotted in primary schools as against 30,000 such places for the whole of last year. The corresponding figures for secondary schools are 24,500 as against 20,600.
Turning now to the steps which have been taken to implement other sections of the White Paper on Educational Policy. Honourable Members will recall that the White Paper is very comprehensive and while some of its contents can be implemented quickly, other proposals require much careful thought and planning. I assure my honourable Friend that measures are under consideration to implement all sections of the White Paper which have been approved. I trust, however, that he will be satisfied if I confine my reply to-day to outlining the major developments which have taken place during the three months since the White Paper was accepted as a statement of government policy on education.
It will be recalled that, in the field of primary education it is intended to increase the number of subsidized primary school places by 297,000 over a period of six years. This involves an average increase of 49,500 subsidized places each year. At present the current estimates provide for about 35,000 additional aided primary places. This was based on our estimates of the new buildings which are expected to be completed and occupied during the current financial year. In the light of the new policy, however, proposals have already been put forward to bring on to full subsidy a large number of existing schools which
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have been operating privately without government aid. I understand that Finance Committee later to-day is being asked to approve funds for subsidizing 30,000 such places, over and above the 35,000 additional places already provided for in the budget. These additional 30,000 places in a full year under normal conditions are expected to cost nearly seven million dollars. If the funds are forthcoming we shall thus bring a total of 65,000 new primary places on to subsidy this academic year. That is some 15,000 places more than the average annual figure required to achieve the target. The result will be that from Chinese New Year at the latest, a large number of private primary schools will be offered full recurrent aid. This step will clearly improve the conditions of service and prospects of a great many teachers serving in those schools, and the parents of the pupils too will benefit from reduced school fees, which the subsidy will make possible.
In the field of special education which is closely related to primary education a detailed survey is now being undertaken of the Colony's needs and the possible steps which may be taken over the next five years to improve and extend facilities for educating children who are blind, partially sighted, deaf, with impaired hearing, and physically handicapped, and also those who have learning difficulties or are maladjusted.
Referring once more to secondary education. Members will recall that on 30th June I stated in this Council that “in connexion with suggestions made for the use of increased secondary school fees, Government will consider extending additional assistance to private non-profit-making secondary schools in preference to any further assistance being provided in the fully aided sector.” Specific proposals, aimed at defining quantitatively the future financial commitments to such schools both in the form of capital aid towards school building and equipment and in the form of recurrent assistance are currently under consideration.
As regards the provision of education for English speaking children, Finance Committee has accepted in principle commitments towards establishing an aided English secondary school on the Island, and an aided Junior English School in Kowloon, and to building a five-classroom extension to the Peak School.
Considerable progress has been made in introducing basic two-year training for non-graduate teachers: Northcote Training College has already ceased to provide a one-year Primary School Teachers' course, Grantham Training College will reach this stage in September 1966 and a two-year course has been established at Sir Robert Black Training College. There are now more than 300 students entering upon a two-year course of training whereas in past years the number has rarely exceeded 100. This development is a positive step towards improving the quality of the trained non-graduate teachers in our schools. The
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expansion of two-year training courses at the colleges has been timed to correspond with the introduction of the new staffing ratio's which will be phased over a three year period in all government and most aided schools. Proposals for re-housing Sir Robert Black Training College have been accepted and an extension of Grantham Training College is under consideration. These proposals are designed to improve the physical facilities of these colleges both as regards the two-year training of non-graduate teachers and the introduction in the future of some third-year training.
As regards new legislation I have put forward proposals for urgent amendments to the Education Regulations which will assist private schools with their practical difficulties of finding suitable accommodation and which will give me greater discretion in issuing permits to teach.
Finally, I wish to stress the very great need to reorganize the administration of the Education Department and to re-define the function and role of the Inspectorate in order to deal satisfactorily with the problems arising from a greatly expanded, and expanding, educational service. The recent creation of two additional posts of Assistant Director of Education is an important step in enabling satisfactory schemes to be worked out and should also go far to expedite work both on the new code of aid and full scale amendments to the Education Ordinance.
MR Woo PAK-CHUBN: —Thank you, Sir.
PENSIONS ORDINANCE CHAPTER 89
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY moved the following resolution: —
WHEREAS—
(1) Bessie CHENG Social Welfare Officer of the Department of Social Welfare (hereinafter referred to as the said officer) was first appointed to the non-pensionable post of Female Inspector Secretariat for Chinese Affairs on 3rd March 1941.
(2) The said officer was confirmed to the pensionable establishment with effect from the 1st day of May 1946 on the recommendation of Secretariat Circular No 15.
(3) Such confirmation should not have been given as the said officer was not serving on probation to the permanent establishment prior to the 25th day of October 1941 the date referred to in the above
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mentioned Secretariat Circular there was at that time no post against which the said officer could have been on probation to the permanent establishment.
(4) Notwithstanding that the said officer was therefore serving in 1948 and that Regulation 19(2)(a) of the Pensions Regulations Chapter 89 provides that three quarters of such period may be taken into account for pension purposes it is desired that the pension to which the said officer is entitled shall be supplemented by an ex gratia award calculated by counting in full the said officer's service for pension purposes from the date on which she was wrongly confirmed to the pensionable establishment namely the 1st day of May 1946 and by counting three quarters of the said officer's service for pension purposes from the 3rd day of March 1941 to the 30th day of April 1946.
Resolved that in addition to the maximum gratuity of $36,180, and reduced pension of $8,683.20 per annum to which the said officer is entitled there be granted to the said officer an ex gratia gratuity of $810 and an ex gratia pension of $194.40 per annum.
He said:—The terms of the Resolution are self-explanatory. Briefly, its purpose is to allow a period of Miss CHENG'S service which, statutorily, should count as three quarters for pension purposes, to count in full in view of the fact that she was erroneously confirmed in the permanent and pensionable establishment with effect from 1st May 1946.
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL seconded.
The question was put and agreed to.
CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG (AMENDMENT) BILL 1965
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY moved the Second reading of a Bill intituled “An Ordinance to amend the Chinese University of Hong Kong Ordinance 1963.”
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL seconded.
The question was put and agreed to.
The Bill was read a Second time.
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Council then went into Committee to consider the Bill clause by clause. Clauses 1 to 6 were agreed to.
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY:—Mr Chairman, I rise to move that Clause 7 be amended as set out in the paper before honourable Members.
Proposed Amendment.
7. Leave out the clause and substitute therefor the following—
section 11.7. Section 11 of the principal Ordinance is amended by the
“Amendment of
deletion of paragraph (m) and the substitution therefor of the
following—
“(m) after a date to be appointed by the Council, such
number of members of the Convocation not
exceeding three as shall be determined by the
Council from time to time, to be elected by the Con
vocation in the manner determined by the Council.”
Clause 7, as amended, was agreed to.
Clauses 8 and 9 were agreed to.
Council then resumed.
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY reported that The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Amendment) Bill 1965, had passed through Committee with one amendment and moved the Third reading.
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL seconded.
The question was put and agreed to.
The Bill was read a Third time and passed into law.
PROTECTION OF WOMEN AND JUVENILES
(AMENDMENT) BILL 1965
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL moved the Second reading of a Bill intituled “An Ordinance further to amend the Protection of Women and Juveniles Ordinance 1951.”
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded.
The question was put and agreed to.
The Bill was read a Second time.
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Council then went into Committee to consider the Bill clause by clause. Clauses 1 to 4 were agreed to.
Council then resumed.
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL reported that the Protection of Women and Juveniles (Amendment) Bill 1965 had passed through Committee without amendment and moved the Third reading.
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded.
The question was put and agreed to.
The Bill was read a Third time and passed into law.
NEXT MEETING
HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR:—That concludes the business for to-day. The next meeting of Council will be held on the 13th October.
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