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Following is the speech by the Permanent Secretary for Education and Manpower, Mrs Fanny Law, at the Knowledge Fair 2002 today (November 12) (English portion):

Professor Galton, Principals, Teachers and Distinguished Guests,

Today is a school holiday and I am deeply moved by the overwhelming attendance at this Knowledge Fair. I understand the Fair is well supported by about 600 schools and more than 3 000 teachers. We also have more than a hundred teachers coming from some 80 schools and organisations to share their experiences with us today. The Knowledge Fair has indeed become a very significant professional development event for Hong Kong. The schools, teachers and colleagues of the Curriculum Development Institute and academics from the tertiary institutes who have helped to make this Knowledge Fair a success surely deserve our appreciation and respect for the time and support they have devoted to their work over the years. Let us give them a big clap.

Today we are also very much honoured to have Professor Maurice Galton of the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, to deliver the keynote speech. Professor Galton is well known for research on classroom practice in primary schools, as well as the transition from primary to secondary schools. Today the theme of his speech is "Learning to Learn: Teaching for Learning". I am sure we will all benefit from his extensive knowledge and experience.

Now in line with our language policy of biliteracy and trilingualism, I will switch to Chinese from this point onward.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the speech.)

End/Tuesday, November 12, 2002

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