Campaign for higher English standards to be launched
A publicity campaign to help raise the standard of English in the business and professional sectors will be launched this year, legislators were told.
A taskforce on the promotion of English standards in the workplace has been formed, says a progress report prepared by the Government.
The taskforce, comprising representatives from business and professional organisations, chambers of commerce and academia, has been formed under the Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (Scolar).
On the use of English in the Government, members were told officials were committed to maintaining a fully bi-literate and trilingual civil service.
'A memorandum was issued recently to all bureaus and departments to remind them of this policy, and to reiterate that all materials for members of the public, especially important public announcements, should be in both English and Chinese wherever practicable,' the Education and Manpower Bureau said in the paper.
On the educational front, the Quality Education Fund has set aside $12.4 million for a two-year programme which will provide more than 110 English language teaching assistants for 70 secondary and primary schools.
The action was taken after lawmakers endorsed a motion from Liberal Party chairman James Tien Pei-chun in May on promoting extensive use of English in Hong Kong.
