Policy Address

National Education

123.     Apart from encouraging our people to care about, and participate in, local affairs, it is the Government's duty to help everyone, especially our younger generations, to know more about our fast-developing motherland.  This year, we mark the 30th anniversary of China's opening up and reform.  Next year, we will mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.  We will launch a series of activities for this important occasion to enhance young people's understanding of our country.  This will help foster a strong sense of national identity in the era of globalisation.

124.     It is the HKSAR Government's established policy to promote national education.  We will continue to adopt a three-pronged approach in this regard: helping students better understand the history and development of our country through curriculum planning; providing students with opportunities to join study and exchange programmes to heighten their sense of national identity; and, encouraging students to contribute to our country's development.

125.     In the past year, we organised lectures and training programmes for teachers and students, and produced web-based teaching materials on the opportunities and challenges in our country's development.  Topics included the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the staging of the Olympic Equestrian Events in Hong Kong, China's first spacewalk by astronauts in its space mission of Shenzhou-7, the 30th anniversary of China's opening up and reform, and disaster relief and reconstruction efforts for the Sichuan earthquake.

126.     The Government will devote additional resources to promoting national education.  For example, we will offer more opportunities for Hong Kong students to join Mainland study trips and exchange programmes, and enhance professional training and exchange programmes for teachers.  In this way, both teachers and students will see for themselves the rapid development of our country.  Currently, we subsidise about 5 000 secondary students to participate in such trips and programmes each year.  We will increase the quota to 37 000 to include junior secondary and upper primary students.  To promote national education in a more strategic and systematic manner, we will create a national education platform to be known as “Passing on the Torch” by co-ordinating the work of various voluntary groups.

127.     We will continue to subsidise Mainland study trips for youths.  Separately, we will allocate additional resources to launch a National Education Funding Scheme for Young People to subsidise and support large-scale national education activities targeting mainly youngsters.  This is to give our young people a chance to see for themselves the development of our country and to grow to love our motherland and Hong Kong.

 

 

 

 

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