STANDARDS for spoken and written Chinese may be recommended in the influential Education Commission Report No 6 to help development of mother-tongue teaching.
It is understood the commission's working group on language proficiency is considering a proposal to standardise the pronunciation of Cantonese and written Chinese in everyday life as well as various fields such as business and the judiciary.
Sources said members saw the need to set standards, that are currently lacking, to help mother-tongue teaching and because the use of the language would increase in the run-up to 1997.
But it is understood that members, now finalising the group's report for submission to the entire commission for endorsement on Monday, have different opinions on the degree of standardisation and who should set the standards.
The members are also considering putting pressure on secondary schools to choose a medium of instruction which suits the language ability of students.
Many secondary schools have refused to teach in Chinese by this September, although a survey by the Education Department has found a majority of the Form One students in the next school year are more suited to learning in their mother tongue.
To rectify this, members may announce the results of a survey into the language proficiency of students in individual schools.
