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Following is the speech by the Secretary for Education and Manpower, Professor Arthur K C Li, in moving the Second Reading of Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (Amendment) Bill 2003 at the Legislative Council meeting today (April 30) (English only):

Madam President,

I move that the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (Amendment) Bill 2003 be read the Second time.

Human resources are one of the most important resources for Hong Kong. It is imperative for us to ensure that our examination policy could nurture and retain local talent, as well as help recruit talent from outside to upgrade the overall quality of our human resources.

We thus see the need to amend the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority Ordinance (the Ordinance). At present, the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA), as prescribed by the Ordinance, cannot provide examination and assessment services outside Hong Kong. However, demand for such services has been growing in recent years on a number of fronts. There are inquires from prospective returnees in places like the United Kingdom and Canada on how their children could fit in Hong Kong's educational system and labour market if they choose to return to Hong Kong. For Hong Kong people living with their children in the Mainland, many of them also retain their connection to Hong Kong. They would like to see their children remaining within Hong Kong's educational system and sit for our public examinations. In fact, there already are a number of schools in the Mainland which adopt the Hong Kong curriculum and their students have to travel back to Hong Kong to attend public examinations. In addition, the HKEAA has also received requests from overseas examination authorities and professional bodies to conduct examinations for them, mainly in Macau and the Mainland.

All these point to the need to allow the HKEAA the flexibility to provide examination and assessment services outside Hong Kong. By so doing, we will increase the pool of talents for Hong Kong. Moreover, this will help the HKEAA maintain its position as a reputable regional examination authority by enhancing its capability of delivering the needed services in the region.

We also take this opportunity to propose raising the penalties under the Ordinance for breach of secrecy and impersonation of members or employees of the HKEAA. Although we do not find the integrity of our examination system under any sort of risk, we consider it desirable to maintain the fines for these offences at an appropriate level to reflect the intended deterrent effect.

Madam President, I hope that Members will support the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (Amendment) Bill 2003.

End/Wednesday, April 30, 2003

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