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Following is a transcript of remarks by the Acting Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, at a media session before attending a meeting of the Executive Council this morning (October 8):
Acting Chief Executive: I fully understand the concern and the anxiety of parents living in the North District about the applications for kindergarten places. The Secretary for Education has been closely monitoring the situation. Yesterday he disclosed several sets of figures, which on the face of it, you can see that the supply in the North District, in Tai Po, Yuen Long and Tuen Mun, the supply is adequate to meet the demand as assessed based on the current situation. But we realise in North District, the situation is a bit tight. So I have asked the Secretary for Education and his colleagues to closely monitor the situation and to take the necessary steps in the coming six months to nine months because we are still nine months before the commencement of the 2014/15 school year. So I want to help assure the parents of the North District that the Education authorities will be closely monitoring the situation. In fact today they will be having meetings with the kindergartens in the North District to try to streamline and improve the process of accepting applications from the parents. Thank you very much.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Issued at HKT 11:33
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