The following is issued on behalf of the Education Commission:

At its meeting today (Monday), the Education Commission (EC) discussed the report submitted by the Preparatory Committee on the Establishment of a General Teaching Council (GTC), which sets out the outcome of the consultation exercise on the establishment of a GTC and the Preparatory Committee's recommendations on the way forward.

The Chairman of the Commission, Mr Antony Leung, said: "We note that the views and comments received during the public consultation indicate that while there is general support for establishing a GTC, the views on its roles, responsibilities and composition are diverse."

"As we are now conducting a comprehensive review of the overall education system in Hong Kong, the teaching profession will play a more important role in the promotion of quality education. We should consider the roles and functions of the proposed GTC in the context of the new education era," he added.

"EC suggests that the Preparatory Committee, together with other concerned advisory bodies, further considers various issues relating to the functions of the proposed GTC and encourages the education sector to actively participate in the discussion. When this work is completed, the Preparatory Committee will report to EC and conduct another round of public consultation," Mr Leung said.

At today's meeting, EC also noted the report submitted by the Board of Education and the Hong Kong Examinations Authority to the Government and provided advice on the way forward.

EC also discussed the progress of work of its two Working Groups and Sub-Groups on the review of the education system.

Mr Leung said: "The scope of the review is wide and the issues involved are rather complex, but we are pleased with the progress made by the two Working Groups and Sub-groups. We expect to have some initial proposals on the overall framework for public consultation in the last quarter of this year."

Ends/Monday, July 26, 1999