ENG-1990 — Page 156

EDUCATION

introduction of a framework of attainment targets and related assessments aimed at improving the teaching and learning in schools as well as providing for more effective monitoring and assessment of learning outcomes. On language in education, the com- mission recommended that a framework for language reforms be adopted. This would provide for the grouping of students in terms of their ability to learn in Chinese or English as determined through objective assessments, and for secondary schools to adopt a clear medium of instruction to suit the needs of their students. Finally, the commission recom- mended an implementation programme for the introduction of uni-sessional schooling at Primary 5 and Primary 6 and the abolition of corporal punishment in schools.

The commission is now working on its fifth report which will deal with the teaching profession and expects to publish it by end-1991. In this report they will examine issues like teacher training, teacher morale and the Colleges of Education.

Board of Education

The Board of Education is a statutory advisory body appointed by the Governor in accordance with Section 7(1) of the Education Ordinance, Chapter 279 of the Laws of Hong Kong. Although the board is an advisory body without executive functions, it plays a key role in formulating and planning education policy for the school sector.

There are 17 board members. Fifteen are non-officials (including the chairman) who are experienced educators or prominent members of the community. The two official members are the Director of Education (vice-chairman) and the Deputy Secretary for Education and Manpower. The board is serviced by the Education Department.

University and Polytechnic Grants Committee

The University and Polytechnic Grants Committee (UPGC) is appointed by the Governor to advise the government on the development of, and funding requirements for, higher education in Hong Kong and to administer government grants for the tertiary institutions.

The UPGC is an advisory committee comprising 10 distinguished overseas academics, four eminent Hong Kong-based academics and six prominent local professionals and industrialists. There is no government representation, but the committee is serviced by a small secretariat staffed by civil servants.

In October, the UPGC commemorated its 25th anniversary and was pleased to note the significant growth in the tertiary education sector since its establishment (as the then University Grants Committee) in 1965. Over this period student numbers (in full-time equivalent terms) have increased tenfold from 4 100 (in two universities) to 41 000. There are at present five institutions funded through the UPGC: the University, of Hong Kong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Polytechnic, the City Polytechnic of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Baptist College. In 1991, the committee will assume responsibility for the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the Lingnan College as well.

In June, the UPGC submitted its recommendations to government on the imple- mentation of the government's ambitious expansion plans for tertiary education which envisage the doubling of first-year first-degree places by 1994-5, thereby providing places for over 18 per cent of the relevant age group. The implementation strategy, which was endorsed a month later, provides for a phased build-up of the additional student numbers starting in 1991-2 in the, by then, seven UPGC-funded institutions.

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