Despite the fact that the government is facing a serious fiscal deficit, education will always be a long-term investment for the community, said Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa Saturday.
Speaking at a reporting session on the progress of education reform, Tung said the government will continue to invest resources on education.
Tung said education has been top of his policy agenda since he assumed the post of Chief Executive in 1997.
Notwithstanding the tremendous fiscal pressure, public funding on education in year 2003 has increased by 11.2 percent in real terms compared with last year, he added.
The government is striving to expand tertiary education with a view to allowing 60 percent of senior secondary school graduates to receive tertiary education by 2010, he said, adding that funding will be provided to increase tertiary education places between 2005 and 2008.
On changing the secondary and university academic structure from a "5+2+3" model to a "3+3+4" one, Tung said the Education Commission (EC) has drawn up a detailed implementation plan which proposes a seven-year transition.
He stressed all sides must adopt a pragmatic approach to implement the reforms progressively to ensure coherence and co-ordination between secondary schools and universities.
(Xinhua News Agency June 15, 2003)
