Lam vows to take education to next level
Former CS wishes to create a caring, stable and inspiring environment
Chief Executive hopeful Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Sunday pledged to spearhead an effort to take Hong Kong’s education sector to the next level by creating a caring, stable and inspiring environment.
Lam made the vow during the first election forum between all three candidates, who took questions from the public on one occasion.
Born to a humble family and raised under the Hong Kong education system, Lam said she was the only one of the three candidates nurtured from kindergarten to college in Hong Kong.
Praising the Hong Kong education system’s past achievements, Lam said she herself was a product of that successful system.
But in her 36 years’ work at 20 different government posts, Lam admitted she had never been in direct charge of the education sector. She nevertheless said that no matter which posts government officials were in, they should pay attention to education policies, which were always the priority of the government.
Lam recalled that she, as deputy secretary for the Treasury, had prevented education resources being curtailed when the government was introducing overall austerity measures to increase the efficiency of the government in 1998.
In 2000, under Lam’s leadership, the government designated a social worker for each of the then 450 secondary schools citywide, to cope with the extracurricular needs of students in schools.
The government is rolling out free kindergarten education by subsidizing almost all the half-day kindergartens. However, Lam noted that the current early childhood education expenditure was HK$6.9 billion annually, less than 10 percent of the more than HK$75 billion overall education expenditure.
Thus, Lam said, the next government should reset its policy to invest more on early childhood education, which is fundamental to the success of the city’s education system and future of society.
A rounded early childcare policy would also free housewives to rejoin the labor force, Lam said. She had spearheaded the city’s Steering Committee on Population Policy when she was chief secretary for administration (CS).
For policies on children under age 3, Lam noted that an overhaul should be conducted to examine how social welfare and education policies should work together to tackle the issue.
“If elected, I will establish a children’s commission, giving priority to children’s welfare when formulating relevant policies,” Lam said.
In summarizing her debate, Lam said that as an outsider of the education sector, she had clarified and announced her vision for education even before she had her full manifesto. She wished to create a caring, stable and inspiring environment for children, teachers, school principals and parents.
Lam, who has put education and youth as two of the three key policy areas in her election manifesto, had proposed to raise the city’s education expenditure, including increasing recurrent expenditure by HK$5 billion annually.
The debate was hosted by the Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union and about 450 education sector representatives attended.
The other two candidates — former financial secretary John Tsang Chun-wah and retired judge Woo Kwok-hing — also shared their thoughts on their election platforms.
The election is slated for March 26. The winning candidate needs at least 601 votes from the 1,194-strong Election Committee, and needs the appointment of the central government before assuming office.