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Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for Education, Mr Eddie Ng Hak-kim, at a media session after officiating at The Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education Annual Hotung Lecture 2015 today (January 17):
Reporter: Mr Ng, with the sister school scheme in place, how do you respond to students' claims that education is becoming a political tool in Hong Kong?
Secretary for Education: First of all, I agreed that our education should never be a political tool. The issue should not be politicalised in terms of the school setting as well as learning and teaching environment. If you look at what has been happening in the area of sister schools, it has been going on for several years. Based on the experiences of the schools, from the teachers, principals, students including parents, they enjoyed and appreciated the value brought over by the sister school setting. What we are trying to do in this year's Policy Address is to provide further resources in order to optimise this learning method or learning exposure and experience to be given properly to our students. I need to emphasise that participation is voluntary and the scheme is organised by the schools.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Saturday, January 17, 2015
Issued at HKT 13:10
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