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Following is the transcript of remarks (English portion) by the Acting Secretary for Education, Mr Kenneth Chen, at a media stand-up after recording RTHK's "Pentaprism II" today (August 18):
Reporter: Anything specific that comes up when you were arranging these data … (inaudible) … ?
Acting Secretary for Education: We have received a lot of feedback about the detailed implementation of the voluntary drug testing programme. We are in the process of consolidating views. We hope to be able to put together a package of information for the Privacy Commissioner as soon as possible so that we can sit together to discuss how best to move forward.
Reporter: What kind of … (inaudible)?
Acting Secretary for Education: We have received a lot of support for the principles of the trial scheme of voluntary school drug testing. We have received some feedback about privacy concerns as you have pointed out. We have also received feedback on some detailed implementation issues. The important thing is, I believe, the public in general supports the voluntary drug testing trial scheme and we are hoping to find a way to deal with the feedback that comes up. We are quite confident that as the school year starts, we will be able to convince teachers, parents as well as students in the Tai Po district to move forward.
Reporter: Do you have a timeline … (inaudible)?
Acting Secretary for Education: We do have some time. We have about two to three weeks before the start of the school year. We are hoping to go through all the schools in the first month or two. There are 23 secondary schools in Tai Po. We would like to have detailed discussions with teachers, students and parents. We are quite confident that we can gain their acceptance of the trial scheme.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Issued at HKT 18:00
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