Speech Summaries$1$
english-only versions
educcation and manpower bureau

Note$1$: This page contains summaries for only those speeches for which English versions were made available on the EMB website as of 22 March 2003.
Note$2$: The Secretary of Education and Manpower is Dr. Arthur Li.
Note$3$: The Permanent Secretary of Education and Manpower is Ms. Fanny Law.
Note$4$: Notes included in square brackets represent ideas that may or may not have been intended by the speaker.

1 March 2003 (PSEM) - Opening Ceremony of the Teachers' Professional Sharing Month on Saturday

• high quality and diverse talent among students
• high caliber, professional teachers willing to learn
• "Everyday, through my students, I touch the future." reference to Christa McAuliff, President Reagan's choice among private US citizens to accompany the failed Challenger into space in 1986 [emphasis on technological advancement]
• snowballing success with regard to major educational reforms
• Three documents for clear direction with regard to educational reform
  • Chief Executive
    • 2000 Policy Address.
  • Curriculum Development Council's (CDC)
    • 2001. Learning to learn - the way forward in curriculum guide.
    • 2002. Basic education curriculum guide.
• Two important beliefs for successful reform
  • Translate theory into practice
  • Professional dialogue and experience sharing - dare to explore and experiment.

7 December 2002 (PSEM) - Forum on the Development and Quality Assurance of Associate Degrees in Hong Kong, The Hong Kong Council for Academic Accreditation

• Take stock of progress since CE's 2000 Policy Address - an ambitious plan with regard to post-secondary education
• Shared local and overseas experience
• 16 institutions provide 9,000 self-financing sub-degree places for S5 and S7 graduates.
• Overall participation rate of post-secondary students is no 42%. Up from 32% in 2000. Credits for this increase given to
  • strong governmental commitment
  • enthusiastic response from continuing education providers
  • support from the HKCAA
  • huge demand for post-secondary education [no figures]
• Government accomplishments
  • HK$ 5 billion in potential loan allocations for training providers
    • HK$ 1 billion already allocated to the creation of nine campuses which are either rented or purchased
  • Set aside nearly HK$200 million in loan and grant money for 2,500 students for attendance in self-financing, sub-degree programs.
  • HK$ 9 million in subsidies for training providers with regard to accredidation
  • Set up five prime sites close to MTR/KCR stations for application by interested providers.
  • Established a set of common descriptors for associate degrees.
  • Created a website to disseminate information
  • Recognition of associate degrees in civil service recruitment
• Still along way to go to reach a 60% participation rate by 2010
• Important challenge: community acceptance of the associate degree as an independent qualification for employment or further education
  • stakeholders: students, parents, teachers, employers
  • sources of question
    • learning outcome
    • quality assurance
    • educational path
• Comparison with the United States - the preferred credential in many of the fastest growing occupations. 400,000 degrees granted every year.
• Advantages of associate degree programs
  • more flexible mode of learning
  • wider variety of subjects and course modules
  • emphasis on classroom participation and hands-on projects
  • an oppotunity for students who have failed public examinations to regain confidence in the absence of examination pressure. [more than one entry into the university]
    • if a student fails to enter a university with the associate degree, then it can be used to find employment
• Create a level playing field for both university and non-university institutions by rationalizing the government's subvention of sub-degree programs. [method of rationalization not explained]
• Coordination of publicity efforts after HKCEE and JUPAS results are released.
• Ways to improve mobility between sub-degree and degree programs
  • Reference to previous announcement with regard to additional funding for second year places in undergraduate programs at universities
  • Credit Accumulation and Transfer System
  • Evidence that universities are more willing to recruit students from multiple sources - the EMB estimates that about 200 students have already entered universities via the associate degree route.
• Emphasis on generic skills and language proficiency
• Better equipped for life-long learning.
• Waiting for institution exit surveys scheduled to come out at the end of the year - better understanding of progression paths.
• Institutional reviews and program validations for non-university providers administered by the HKCAA are necessary before students can obtain funding to attend their institutions - HKCAA gate-keeping role.
• New entrant complaints
  • the level of fees charged by the HKCAA
  • the heavy administrative burden
  • panelist selection
  • insufficient transitional provision for new start-ups to grow and mature.
• Parallels with the Manpower Development Committee
  • EMB consultation document (October 2002) - The document outlines seven levels of qualification plus an entry level. The associate degree occupies one of these levels as an important bridge between secondary and university education.

21 November 2002 (PSEM) - St Paul's Convent School Speech Day

• A government aided school with international standards
• The Secretaryh praises the school as one that develops the mind, body, and spirit and produces a well-rounded individual. More than textbook knowledge
• The school will join the Direct Subsidy Scheme - the scheme offers greater flexibility with regard to
  • curriculum
  • student admissions
  • staffing
  • finance (fee policy)
• As a DDS School it will be able to form a through train with the private St. Paul's Primary School
• The lucky ones with
  • stimulating teachers
  • love of learning
  • set of values
  • critical thinking
  • liberating creativity
• Graduation is called commencement in the United States
• New challenges with regard to Hong Kong's period of transformation
  • Must embrace the mainland and identify Hong Kong with its interests
  • Must preserve the spirit of "one country, two systems"
    • rule of law
    • level playing field
    • free flow of information
    • clean government
  • Liberation from colonial past and identification with China on a win-win basis
  • Close identification with the Pearl River Delta region
    • economic interaction and integration
    • must move quickly or be left behind
• Young people must know
  • the social, economic, legal and political systems of the mainland
  • must master Chinese, Putonghua, and English
  • must develop social and negotiation skills
  • must be objective and positive toward the mainland and accommodate differences
• Young people should visit the mainland and see the difference
• Schools have the responsibility of promoting "national education" and cultivating national identity, passion, and pride
  • Chinese studies to develop an appreciation of Chinese culture
  • celebrating national, cultural, and historical holidays through special events and activities
  • raising the national flag and playing the national anthem
  • organizing visits and study tours
• We must
  • uphold the "can do" spirit
  • ask what we can do for Hong Kong, not what Hong Kong can do for us
  • set aside ideological and political differences for the common good
  • nurture life-long biliterate, tri-lingual learners [repeated]
• Stand and applaud teachers, families, and principal

14 November 2002 (PSEM) - Official Opening Ceremony of Phase II of the Canadian International School

• 1991 (primary school of 80 students) - 2002 (1600 places to year 12)
• HK$ 350 million dollar school project
• Hong Kong - international city of China with global perspective and cosmopolitan character
  • must attract overseas talent and investment
  • must care adequately for expatriate children
  • must bridge cultural gaps
• HK government has firm commitment to international education
  • development of private independent schools encouraged
  • International schools in Hong Kong
    • 50 schools
    • 27,000 students
    • 25 nationalities
  • since 1999 land allocated for 10 private independent schools for operation to begin between 2004 and 2006
  • highly reputable EMI schools that may eventually admit expatriate children
• HK and Canada celebrate their respective identities on the same day, July 1
• Praise for the school
  • state of the art facility
  • school culture
  • professional curriculum
  • all-around development

12 November 2002 (PSEM) - "Learning to Learn" Knowledge Fair (Chinese)

• Supported by 600 schools and more than 3000 teachers
• A significant annual professional development event
• Curriculum Development Institute
• Introduction for Professor Maurice Galton, Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge.

1 November 2002 (PSEM) - Early Childhood Education International Symposium, Yew Chung Education Foundation

• Apology for Arthur Li's non-attendance [perhaps she stood in for him]
• 70th anniversary of the Yew Chung Education Foundation
• "A person's fate at 80 is determined at the age of three" -- old Chinese proverb
• Gabriela Mistral (Chilean poet) - " many things we need can wait, the child cannot... To him we cannot say tomorrow, his name is today."
• HKSAR has embarked a on wide-ranging reforms (early childhood to the university) since October 2000 committed to
  • global citizens
  • enjoy learning - lay the foundation for life-long learning
  • effective communication
  • creative and critical thinkinig
  • family and nation
• Purposeful and carefully designed play - joyful learning
• "No pain, no gain" is likely a poor dictum for children making a head start.
• Early childhood education in Hong Kong operates in a private market
  • the upside - market effectiveness
  • the downside - educators submit to parental pressure of "no pain, no gain".
• Professional requirement for HK kindergarten teachers
  • None until 1984.
  • 1992 - at least 40% of all teachers per school must be trained
  • By 2002 71% of all teachers trained with QKT.
  • The goal is 100% QKT by 2004-5.
• Preparing children to read is the top priority of early childhood education
  • Enriched language learning environment
    • Interpersonal interaction
    • Active participation in learning activities
  • In-service training with regard to literacy development
  • Sharing of professional experience encouraged
• Innovation encouraged among principals and teachers
  • Hong Kong Pre-primary English Language Project (HK Council of Children Education and Services)
  • Yew Chung Education Foundation
    • home-school cooperation
    • child-centered curriculum
• Parental education about child development crucial
  • Quality of adult-child discourse
  • Reading in the family
  • Extension of school into the home
• The new-economy places a premium on human resource development - early childhood development is thus important.
• Symposium - professional development and experience sharing.

25 October 2002 (PSEM) - Chung Chi College 51st Anniversary of Founders' Day Thanksgiving Service

• Lofty mission of university education
• Faith and perseverance during HK's difficult period of restructuring
  • Asian crisis
  • emergence of knowledge-based economy
  • China's accession to the WTO
• Must leverage strengths
  • geographic proximity [Chinese mainland, central East Asia]
  • cultural and linguistic links [Chinese and English heritage]
  • extensive business networks
  • professional expertise [trade, law, textiles, etc.]
• 1.1 billion Chinese mainlanders
  • huge market
  • dynamic economy
  • the Pearl River Delta - China's fastest-growing region and most affluent part of China
• Hong Kong's economic strategy - move up the value chain and exploit opportunities in the Pear River delta
  • Change in mindset required
    • must take pride in Chinese heritage (the motherland)
    • empathize and recognize the mainland's difficulties and achievements
  • Hong Kong must find its niche in the forthcoming changes as an international city of China.
• HK's work force must be better educated [a long way between what is and what should be ...C]
  • critical and creative thinking
  • fluency in English and Putonghua
  • life-long learning
• Even with economic downturn -- education is still rated high (24% of national budget) [according to the UNDP this figure was 17% in 1995-97 What is more important, however, is the percent of Hong Kong's GDP spent on education. It is quite low when compared with HK's principal trading partners.]
• Concern that the Pearl of the Orient (Crown Jewel of Asia) will lose its shine. [harkening back to British heritage]
• Telling children what is right and wrong [A virtue of teachers? Creative and critical thinking?]
• University students are only 18% of age cohort - a burden of responsbility.
  • global citizens
  • the greatness of the Chinese race [With an attitude like this it is difficult to see how anyone could become a global citizen]
• Reflection on CUHK's orientation camps - August headlines. Shock and criticism
• With freedom and autonomy come responsbility and accountablity [good HK citizens are not necessarily good global citizens]
• Fanny Law's expectations of students as a taxpayer and civil servant
  • Why are you at the university?
    • Student probable response.
      • Get a degree
      • Get a good job
    • Qualifications can no longer guarantee success. You must lay down the foundation for future learning [She should be telling this to the faculty -- not the students, as it is the former who provide the improper incentives to creative and critical thinking]
    • Learning begins when you graduate - examinations are warm-up exercises
    • What counts are
      • Job performance
      • Ability to relate to people
  • Do not expect your professors to spoon feed you [Once again she should be talking to the professors who encourage spoon feeding -- not the students]
  • Award professors who challenge and stretch your potential top scores [But Ms. Law, this would require that HK university professors engage their students, that they are rewarded for something more than student enrollment numbers and publications]
  • Take advantage of your opportunities [This you do not need to tell them, do you?]
  • Don't drift aimelesslly, set your goals. [This they must learn before they enter college]
  • Be true to yourself. You are your own best friend
  • Do not be afraid to take risk [And be pounded down by a system that offers no incentives to take risk? You cannot tell them to do, something they after never learned to appreciate doing. Who in the university rewards this kind of behavior?]
  • Getting straight As is not the end of the world [But this is what they have been taught in primary and secondary school -- else how could they have made it into tertiary school? Are you not responsible for the HKCEE and the HKALE?
  • All human beings make mistakes [Yes, but in Hong Kong society only those who know how to cover them up, succeed...? It is all a part of pretending that which you say you are against.]
  • The more painful the experience, the deeper the learninig [But Ms Law, I thought you were trying to discourage the dictum "No pain, no gain." Don't you remember? Learning is supposed to be fun. Are adults (young or old) so different from children in this regard?]
  • Seek out help when you need it.
  • Help others who are in need. [Is this what students are taught while preparing for their examinations?]
• The parable of the pencil [Is it not what they have to write on that is missing? Namely, a solid primary and secondary education that encourages creativity and critical thinking, rather than a tertiary education system that simply builds and perpetuates the same. Once again, you are talking to the wrong people Ms. Law - it's the faculty, not the students who push the old system forward. Admonishing a poorly created pencil for his manufacturer's faults is talking to deaf ears. Ms. Law, are you really from Hong Kong?]
• Lead a fulfilling life. ["Amen"]

21 October 2002 (PSEM) - Opening Ceremony of the 13th ICMI Comparative Study Conference

• "Uniqueness of Hong Kong, Asia's World City where the East meets West" [Hong Kong may be unique to most of China in this regard, but hardly with regard to East Asia. Even Shanghai has a long cosmopolitan tradition.]
• Offers praise to mathematics as the key to beauty and philosophy - Pythagoras
• Mathematics -- politics and everyday life (Hong Kong's budget)
• Post-1997 historical note
  • Seemless transition
  • High degree of autonomy under the Basic Law - Hong Kong's mini-constitution of "one country, two systems"
• Four pillars of the "freest economy in the world"
  • rule of law upheld by an independent judiciary [depending on your social rank]
  • level playing field for business [unless you are a small foreign business with no Cantonese]
  • clean civil service [Hong Kong ranks high among East Asia countries]
  • free flow of information [If you have the money and time to access it]
• Freest economy - The Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal [what you can see with a statistical telescope]
• Freedom of information [a free press in the absence of democratically elected heads of state does mean something, but maybe not what someone from the West is likely interpreting it to mean, but I won't tell, if you promise not to]
  • 50 newspapers
  • 740 periodicals
  • Signals to12 satelite broadcasters
  • 120 international media organizations
• Social and economic institutions remain unchanged
  • Still an international center for
    • trade and business
    • financial services, and
    • shipping
  • A large number of emigrants have returned since 1997
  • US$ 22 billion have flowed into Hong Kong during the last five years [In 1999 almost 60% of all FDI inflow came from either the Mainland or off-shore tax-havens (the Virgin Islands and Bermuda)]
• HK's Chief Executive elected for a second five-year term [by a semi-popularly elected body]
  • He introduced a new ministerial-style government in order to provide [many Hong Kongers dispute both of these points]
    • greater accountability, and
    • a more forward looking government of non-civil servant leaders
• HK's two major concerns are
  • globalization [Asian crisis and Information Age]
  • China's rapid growth [Pearl River delta, mainland's entry into the WTO]
• HK's reponse to the above two concerns
  • economic restructuring, and
  • education reform
    • a 60% increase in investment from 1997 to 2002
    • education now 24% of annual budget [once again, although high as a percentage of the annual budget it is very low as a percentage of GDP]
    • comprehensive overhaul of curriculum
• Holistic review of the mathematics curriculum
  • one of eight key learning areas
  • nurture thinking skills - life-long learning [To what extent life-long learning is merely a long term promise to assuage the short-term pain of an economic downturn needs to be examined. The reaction of local universities to recent pending budget cuts has been to cut sub-degree programs. If this is what occurs, then how achievable is the promise?]
  • positive attitudes and confidence
  • enrichment programs for gifted students.
• TIMMS results
  • Hong Kong students ranked fourth place in grades 4 (26 country comparision) and 8 (41 country comparison)
• International Mathematical Olympiad 2002 - five of HK's six-member team won awards (one gold, two silver, and two bronze)
• Two important educational problems
  • How to assess high-order thinking skills
  • How to cater to large class-size [not diminish class-size]
• Mathematical puzzle

11 October 2002 (SEM) - Seminar for Native English-speaking Teachers (NET)

• NETs and SETs.
• Language has always been regarded as very, very important in Hong Kong [Language comes in many forms]
• About a quarter of the world's population communicate entirely in English, therefore the government support's English language education in Hong Kong [Is not Chinese one of the principal languages of the United Nations? I do not follow this Dr. Li's logic]
• HK spends on average HK$ 560 million every year on the NET scheme
• Purpose of the NET is not simply to teach English, but enhance the educational culture of Hong Kong schools.
• Dr. Li admits that English is not so easy.
• Dr. Li is married to a native speaker of English.
• English is an imprecise language [Dr. Li should try Japanese. His comparison with Latin is interesting, because this is the way most Hong Kong children learn English -- as an unspoken language]
• The SETs are a bridge between cultures. [Are the NETs encouraged learn and speak Cantonese? Without Cantonese they will only learn what the SETs want them to learn and nothing more. There is a language barrier that the NETs cannot easily overcome]
• Helping to build Hong Kong into a truly cosmopolitan city [With over 96% of all Hong Kong citizens of Chinese ethnicity there are important limits on how cosmopolitan Hong Kong can or even should become.
• The end [Not a word was mentioned about how English services the Hong Kong economy, only the HK$ 560 million per annum that Hong Kong invests in NET teachers. It must be hidden in the word cosmopolitan....]

2 September 2002 (PSEM) - Opening Ceremony of the 28th IAEA Annual Conference

• Hong Kong hosted this year's event entitled "Reforming Educational Assessment to meet Changing Needs".
• Two months earlier the Hong Kong Examinations Authority changed its name to the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority in an effort to reflect its expanded role.
• 21st century educational shift from the imparting of knowledge to the development of an intrinsic motivation to learn. Reference made to Alvin Toffler's definition of a literate person in the 21st century
  • The basis of competition in a knowledge economy includes the ability to
    • innovate
    • change
    • turn threats into opportunities, and
    • learn, unlearn, and relearn.
• Hong Kong's cutlure of examinations has distorted the aim of education
• Must distinguish between the mastery of knowledge and its application
• Assessment affects the way in which instruction takes place. This is poorly understood by Hong Kong teachers, parents, and employers.
  • What is not examined is neither taught, nor learned
  • The examination syllabus overrides the curriculum guide as the basis for teaching
• The challenge for test developers is to build tests that reflect the curriculum
• The challenge for teachers is to use assessment results as feedback to improve instruction [This is exactly what they do, when they change the curriculum to reflect the examination syllabus. Only when the incentives change will the system change. You cannot preach incentives, you must provide them.]
• Future development of HKEAA
  • Diversification of assessment methods. For example, teacher assessment. [What about peer assessment?]
  • More emphasis on assessing cognitive skills -- namely, less reliance on standardized marking schemes. [This is more work for teachers. Someone must pay for it.]
  • Better coordination between curriculum developers, test administrators, and markers
  • Promotion of assessment literacy among teachers, parents, policy makers, and the public
  • More widespread use of formative assessments [Does this refer to the students or the teachers, or both?]
  • Alternative accountability mechanisms different from public examination results.
• Heart of current education reform is curriculum reform.
• Advertisment for the "vibrant" city.

5 July 2002 (PSEM) - Yew Chung International School Graduation Ceremony

• First graduation fo the Yew Chung International School's baccalaureate class. [This is a secondary school. Presumably Form 7 graduates.]
• Schools aims [HK reform buzz-words]
  • critical and compassionate thinkers
  • lifelong learners
  • global citizens
• An impressive list of universities that the students will be attending is mentioned.
• Ms. Law became the Director of Education in November 1998.
• One student will repond to Ms. Law's address - at least one student will be listening.
• Graduates as enzymes. Reference to Martin Luther King (civil rights) and Jody Williams (world peace)
  • Making the world a better place.
  • Enquiry in the classroom
  • Classroom interaction
  • Lifelong learning - how to learn
• Ms. Law is a former Harvard graduate
• Emphasis as role models for more junior students
  • Universal human values
  • Citizenship
    • Service to others
    • Personal responsibility
    • Accommodity of diversity
• Hong Kong's unprecedented changes
  • Economic restructuring
  • Social and ideological differences
  • Income disparity
• Five beliefs of an adaptive and harmonious community [Have these beliefs been tested?]
  • People are basically good
  • Everyone has something to contribute
  • An honest and open environment [I wonder if this includes bilingual government transparency?]
  • Respect for the individual
  • Golden rule
• Another Hong Kong challenge - creating a proper balance between private pursuits and public service.
• Reference to Edward Gibbon. What was true for Athens, is true for all societies. When freedom from responsibility is the goal, freedom is lost.
• Do what you love and love what you do.
• Serve your community. Set an example, lead
• Honor to parents, friends, and family.

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