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Constitution and Administration 23

directorate officers. Advisory services on directorate succession planning are provided to departments. Staff exchange programmes with the private sector and the municipal governments of Mainland cities (including Shanghai and Beijing) have been launched to provide officers with wider exposure.

For national studies programmes, apart from courses at the National School of Administration and Tsinghua University, new courses at the China Foreign Affairs. University and Peking University were launched in 2004. There are also local programmes on national affairs and the Basic Law for staff at different levels. During the year, the Secretary for Justice and speakers from the Mainland were invited to conduct seminars on the Basic Law and constitutional developments.

The CSTDI disseminates best practices in human resource management covering analysis of training needs, learning strategies, development of competency profiles and performance management systems through its advisory services to client departments.

To help promote a culture of continuous learning in the civil service, the e- learning portal has been strengthened on a sustained basis, in terms of the variety and quality of learning programmes and job-aids accessible to civil servants on-line. The number of registered users of the portal grew from 35 000 in 2003 to 45 000 in 2004. The CSTDI also provides support to departments to enhance the infrastructure necessary for encouraging wider use of the e-learning mode in the pursuit of continuous learning.

Official Languages

Chinese and English are the official languages of Hong Kong. It is the Government's policy to develop and maintain a Civil Service that is proficient in both written Chinese and English and conversant in Cantonese, Putonghua and spoken English. While reports and publications of public interest issued by the Government are available in both languages, correspondence with the public is in the language appropriate to the recipients. The Official Languages Division of the Civil Service Bureau implements the Government's language policy in the Civil Service. It provides language-related services to all government bureaux and departments. In addition to providing translation and interpretation services, its Official Languages Officers also draft speeches and edit important documents in Chinese for senior officers. Simultaneous interpretation services are provided by its Simultaneous Interpreters at official meetings when necessary.

The division also provides research and support services. It has been promoting the wider use of Chinese in the Civil Service through a wide range of activities. including seminars and lectures on Chinese language and culture. It runs a help desk which answers telephone enquiries from civil servants on the use of official languages. The division develops writing aids and reference materials, such as guidebooks on official Chinese writing and English-Chinese glossaries of terms commonly used in government departments. In order to enhance the interest of civil servants in Chinese and English, it publishes a quarterly newsletter entitled Word