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The following is the speech (English only) by the Acting Chief Executive, Mrs Anson Chan, at the 13th International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement today (Tuesday):
Professor Townsend, Professor Zhou, Mr Cheng, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen,
I am delighted and honoured to be invited to open the 13th International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement and particularly pleased to extend a very warm welcome to all our overseas visitors. This is actually our first international conference of the new millennium so congratulations are in order for all delegates - you have just become a part of Hong Kong's history.
Today also marks another first for the International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement: I believe it is the first time your convention has been held in Asia. Naturally, we are delighted that Hong Kong is the venue and focus of your deliberations and discussions over the next few days.
The significance of this conference, however, goes far beyond these symbolic markers. Its real significance lies in the very subject matter you will address, and that is how best to equip our young people with the necessary knowledge, skills and values to cope with the changing world in which they live.
Education has been, and will continue to be, the key to human progress. Some 2,000 years ago, the Book of Rites, a Chinese literary classic on religion, philosophy and education, told us that: "Education is the foundation for building a nation and governing people." Some 2,000 years later, John F Kennedy delivered the same message when he said of his country and I quote: "Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The human mind is our fundamental resource." In the East and in the West, past and present, education has always been central to how states and economies fare.
Hong Kong is a good example. We are a small community of 6.8 million people, living within an area about 1,100 square kilometres - that's about 400 square kilometres less than Greater London which, I might add, is a little less hilly than Hong Kong's mountainous terrain. Despite these constraints we have achieved remarkable success as a global centre for trade, finance, tourism and transport. The secret of that success is our people. And that is why we continue to invest heavily in human capital - education is a single biggest item of public expenditure and accounts for about 20 per cent of our annual Budget.
As any good investor will tell you, the success of a particular investment does not depend solely on how much money or resources we put into that enterprise. Success depends on whether we make the best possible use of those resources. We need to be clear about goals and priorities. We need to continuously look for ways to improve our investment strategy. We must aim to ensure that every dollar spent, is a dollar well spent.
These are goals that I know you all share in your ongoing quest to improve the delivery and effectiveness of quality education. And these goals are even more relevant at a time when finite resources face increasing and competing demands from other sectors such as health care, social welfare and public housing.
But money - or lack of it - is just one of the challenges, or enabling factors, that face education in the 21st century.
The use of Information Technology is another. IT has already had a profound impact on many aspects of our life. Globally we live and must ensure that we earn our living in the New Economy, a world in which it has been estimated, more than half of the employment opportunities have not yet been created. We must learn to surf the wave of the knowledge based economy, acquire new skills or be left behind. IT poses enormous challenges but at the same time it offers unparalleled opportunities. We have to ensure that our young people possess the skills to harness the very formidable power of IT and to apply it constructively for personal growth and human advancement. Students in the 21st Century will be inundated with information that pours in every second, twenty four hours a day. We can have access to virtually whatever information we want. And a lot, sadly that we don't want. One of the greatest challenge of the Information Age is to learn how to manage this mountain of data - how to separate the wheat from the chaff. The role of teachers becomes even more important in ensuring that students end up better and accurately informed rather than ill informed about more things.
We also need to cultivate in our young people an aptitude for life-long learning. A decade or two ago, a good first degree from a reasonably good university would have guaranteed a good job. Nowadays, many top-line employers demand a Masters or a Doctorate as a prerequisite to consideration for a job interview. The Asian financial turmoil, which spread throughout the region from mid-1997 and through most of 1999, highlighted the importance of adaptability and versatility. Our children must be able to pick up new skills throughout their life. The challenge is how to encourage and facilitate that learning process. Perhaps the most precious gift that educators can give to our young people is the ability to become independent minded and critical learners throughout their lives.
Creativity is another aspect of education that needs to be nurtured. We should encourage our young people to question, experiment and innovate. To do this, they need to be freed from the stifling effect of rote learning, drilling and high stakes examinations. We want teachers to be facilitators rather than instructors; we aim for classrooms that are student-centred, rather than teacher-centred. An environment in which pluralism thrives.
Part of the evolution of our education system involves devolution - a freeing up of schools from the shackles of bureaucracy. The Government wants to provide an enabling environment in which school heads and teachers, in partnership with parents, have greater flexibility to decide what is the best way of moulding young minds. But such freedom also carries greater responsibility for school management to be more accountable, more open to the community it serves and more receptive to public expectations.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are but four days into a new century and a new millennium. What will it hold for us? What will life be in 2010 or 2020. I don't have the answers to those questions but I have a feeling that mankind may well be poised on the edge of the most exciting period in all of human history.
President Ronald Reagan once said that -
"Education is not the means of showing people how to get what they want. Education is an exercise by means of which enough men, it is hoped, will learn to want what is worth having".
This I believe is the real challenge for all educators. As leaders in your field, you will help shape the minds of potential leaders of the new millennium. And I believe you have a wonderful opportunity to change the world for the better.
I trust that in the next few days you will make full use of this forum to share experiences, exchange views and pave the way for further collaboration. I wish you all a most stimulating and successful conference and for our overseas visitors a most enjoyable stay.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
Photo: The Acting Chief Executive, Mrs Anson Chan, attended the Opening Ceremony of the 13th International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement (ICSEI). Picture shows Mrs Chan delivering a speech at the ceremony.
End/Tuesday, January 4, 2000
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