Hong Kong had to meet education needs presented by the new millennium and respond to the challenges of the future, the Secretary for Education and Manpower said.
Joseph Wong Wing-ping was speaking at the 13th International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement, attended by about 900 representatives from 20 economies.
Mr Wong highlighted five priority areas.
'First, our education system must ensure that all our students are information technology [IT] literate, with some of them having the potential to become leaders in the field,' he said.
'Secondly, our education system must nurture our students to develop the aptitude to learn continuously. Our economy has changed from a labour-intensive to a knowledge-based one.' Thirdly, Mr Wong said the education system must equip students with good communication skills.
'The world is becoming increasingly globalised. To exploit the potentials of this trend, we need international citizens who have a global outlook and who appreciate other values and cultures,' he said.
'We therefore want our students to be biliterate, that is, write proper English and Chinese, and trilingual, that is, speak fluent Cantonese, Putonghua and English.' Mr Wong said the education system needed a dedicated and professional teaching force as teachers played an important role in preparing young people for future challenges.
