The Education Department is adopting a mother knows best attitude in requiring all government subvented secondary schools to use Chinese as the teaching medium by September 1998. Despite what it admits is the public opposition to its policy, it is determined to ram it down the public's throat. So much for our much vaunted representative and responsive Government. There is general opposition to the Government's proposals for a good reason. Parents want what in their view is best for their children; what will put them in the best position for their future. The reality is that in Hong Kong, an international trading city, a proficient standard of English does put an individual at an advantage. However, it goes further than this. For Hong Kong to maintain its position in the world, it needs a major part of its workforce to have a high standard of English. We hear now from the universities and from Hong Kong's professionals that standards of English are falling already. The Education Department's policy will only exacerbate this trend. In focusing on correcting what it perceives as one problem, the department will create deficiencies in our education system which will have potentially far-reaching and detrimental effects for Hong Kong. I urge the department to review its policy. It should try to understand the real reason behind the secondary schools and parents wanting to persist in using English as a teaching medium instead of relying on the findings of an education committee formed 10 years ago. If it proceeds on its present course, it will deprive Hong Kong people of choice. Due to the restricted number of schools teaching in both languages, this will create an elite and I believe it will, in the end, harm the future prosperity of Hong Kong. K B CHAN Kowloon