The following is issued on behalf of the Education Commission:

The Education Commission (EC) discussed the draft consultation paper prepared by the Preparatory Committee on the Establishment of General Teaching Council (GTC), which set out preliminary proposals on the powers and functions of the GTC at its meeting today (Monday).

The Chairman of EC, Mr Antony Leung said, "The aim of the GTC is to promote the professional standards of teachers, with the ultimate objective of providing quality education for our students. The Preparatory Committee will finalise its proposals soon and consult the public before the end of this year."

"Parents, employers and other players in the education system all have an interest in seeing Hong Kong's education system being served by a professional team of teachers with high quality and dedication. We encourage all those in the community who have an interest in education to give the Preparatory Committee their views on the various proposals during the consultation," Mr Leung noted.

Members also reviewed the operation of the Quality Education Fund (QEF). They agreed that QEF had achieved initial success in encouraging bottom-up quality education initiatives from the school sector, and agreed with the QEF Steering Committee's recommendations on how the operation of QEF could be refined in the light of experience gained from the first call of applications.

"Evaluation of the funding applications will be made more efficient by, inter alia, inviting more participation from front-line education workers," Mr Leung said.

"Exhibitions will also be organised from time to time to disseminate good practices and experience resulting from the funded projects to the school sector and the community at large," he added.

In response to the proposal by the heads of tertiary institutions to extend the duration of undergraduate programmes to four years, Mr Leung said "We welcome suggestions from the community and education sector, including the heads of tertiary institutions, on this very complex issue. However, given the complexity of issues involved, the review will be conducted in stages.

"To start with, we will map out the broad goals of education, taking into account the needs of Hong Kong society and the experiences in other parts of the world.

"Secondly, we will identify different models of academic structures, recommend the optimal one for Hong Kong, and map out the goals of individual stages of education.

"Finally, we will round up our recommendations and lay the foundation for the future development of curriculum, assessment methods and other major interface issues pertinent to the review.

"Given the wide implications of any proposed changes on the entire education, we will consult extensively in the course of the review and take into account views of different education sectors, including the schools and tertiary sectors. We will also seek the views of other stakeholders such as the business and professional bodies, parents, students and the general public."

"Tertiary education is an important part of education in Hong Kong. However, as Hong Kong offers higher education places to 18 per cent of its young people, the structure of education must also take care of the other 82 per cent. Also, there is significant resource implication for any changes. This has to be evaluated very carefully, given the medium term economic outlook."

Mr Antony Leung also announced the launching of the EC homepage.

"The EC homepage keeps the community updated of our work and activities. It also provides a useful platform for us to communicate with the education community and the public. We look forward to suggestions and comments on our work, and on all education matters with a view to promoting quality education," he said.

The address of the homepage is : http://www.e-c.edu.hk

Ends/Monday, September 28, 1998