Carrie Lam could make a breakthrough with education issue
林鄭民望輸在起跑線 教育可成施政突破點
文章日期:2017年5月19日

雙語社評齊齊聽

英語 (足本收聽)

普通話 (足本收聽)

【明報專訊】"EVERYTHING is difficult before it is easy", as the saying goes. Carrie Lam, the Chief Executive (CE)-elect, is faced with a mountain of challenges. According to the first opinion survey conducted after the CE election, Carrie Lam's support rating is 55.6 marks, which, though higher than that of Leung Chun-ying five years ago, is significantly lower than Tung Chee-hwa's and Donald Tsang's ratings after their election, meaning that she has got off to a bumpy start.

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萬事起頭難,候任特首林鄭月娥面對的挑戰可謂堆積如山。行政長官選舉後首項民意調查顯示,林太支持度評分為55.6,雖較5年前的梁振英略高,惟顯著低於董建華和曾蔭權當選後的評分,反映林太起步艱難。

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Carrie Lam was elected as CE on low popularity. According to the latest HKU survey, Carrie Lam's net approval rating is negative 8 percentage points, with 43 per cent of respondents believing that she failed to face the public during her campaign. In other words, Carrie Lam has to do more to drum up public support. That said, it is not necessarily a bad thing to "lose at the starting line". If Carrie Lam does concrete work and pursues new policies after taking office, it is possible for her popularity to rebound. After her election, not only will Carrie Lam put together her governance team, but she has also said repeatedly that she has to improve the relationship between the executive and legislature to demonstrate a new style of governance. Carrie Lam has not only taken the initiative to meet front-line reporters, but also promised to communicate with lawmakers from different parties. Apparently, Carrie Lam wants to show with her action that her leadership style will be different from that of the incumbent government. But the key remains whether she will persevere with such a practice.

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林太低民望當選特首,根據港大最新民調,林太民望淨值為負8個百分點,43%受訪者認為林太參選時未能做到面對群眾,顯示林太必須在爭取民心方面多下工夫。不過輸在起跑線未必全然是壞事,設若林太上台後幹實事推新政,民望低位彈升亦非不可能。林太當選後除了全力組班,亦不斷重申要改善行政立法關係,展示管治新風格。林太無論是主動約見前線記者,還是承諾與各黨派議員溝通,顯然都希望以行動證明管治風格有別於現屆政府,不過關鍵始終是能否持之以恆。

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There are many vexing, long-standing problems facing different government departments. But it is inadvisable to fight a war on too many fronts recklessly. What the new government has to do is focus on one or two social issues to achieve a consensus on policies. This will break the deadlock, make it easier to implement the policies and fire the opening triumphant salvo, and prove that the new government has the willingness and ability to achieve a consensus and address the needs of citizens and political parties. With the current situation in mind, we believe that it will be easier to achieve cross-party cooperation by focusing on the issue of education.

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政府各部門面對的老大難問題繁多,一口氣亂開多條戰線並不明智,新班子需要做的是先針對一兩項社會民生議題凝聚政策共識,打開突破口,以便7月上台後盡快落實打響頭炮,證明新政府有意願亦有能力凝聚共識,回應市民和政黨的訴求。觀乎目前形勢,集中火力處理教育問題,相信較易爭取跨黨派合作。

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In her manifesto, Carrie Lam proposed the idea of "new resources for education", i.e. increasing recurrent expenditure on education by $5 billion a year. The money will be used to establish a pay scale for kindergarten teachers, improve the staffing establishment of primary and secondary school teachers, convert short-term contract teaching posts to permanent ones, enhance support for integrated education and special education, upgrade the hardware and software provided for schools, and grant financial aid to secondary school graduates to enable them to pursue degree courses in self-financing tertiary institutions. Improving education standards is not only a demand made by schools and teachers, but also a shared vision of society as a whole. That the next administration is willing to devote more resources to education should make it easier to achieve a consensus on the issue. But some people in the education sector are still worried that the new administration will "make no decision after deliberation" and "take no action after making a decision", and are unsure when the "new resources" will become available. After her election as CE, Carrie Lam said that she would meet with stakeholders in the education sector and lawmakers from different political parties, hoping to achieve a consensus before taking office. This will make it easier for the next administration to report to the Legislative Council how the new resources will be allocated and used and seek the approval of the Legco Finance Committee. If such measures can be implemented as soon as possible, it will of course benefit schools, teachers and students. It will also show the new administration's ability to achieve a consensus and implement policies and prove that cross-party cooperation is not something that elusive. Whether the idea of "new resources on education" can be realised will be a first test for Carrie Lam's administration as well as an important indicator of whether Hong Kong politics will be back on the rational and cooperative track.

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林太在政綱中提出「教育新資源」,每年教育經常開支增加50億元,有關款項可用於訂立幼師薪級表、改善中小學教師編制、將短期合約教席轉為常額教席、加強支援特殊教育、改善學校軟硬件,以及資助高中畢業生升讀自資院校大學學位課程等。改善教育質素不僅是學校和教師的訴求,也是社會的共同願望,來屆政府願意投入更多資源,理應是一個較易凝聚共識的議題,然而仍有教育界人士擔心新班子議而不決、決而不行,不知道「教育新資源」何時到位。林太當選後表示,將約見教育界持份者和不同黨派議員,盼能在上任前達成共識,以便在下屆政府運作初期,向立法會匯報新資源的分配和運用,尋求立法會財務委員會批准。有關措施如能盡快落實,固然可以令學校、教師和莘莘學子受惠,同時也可以反映新政府凝聚共識、落實政策的能力,證明跨黨派合作並非鏡中花水中月。「教育新資源」能否說到做到,將是林太未來施政首個具體考驗,也是本港政治生態能否重回理性合作正軌的重要指標。

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明報社評2017.04.06

Presented by lecturers of Hong Kong Community College, PolyU and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Dr TAO, Kimberly Wei-yi

Lecturer

www.hkcc-polyu.edu.hk/staff_directory/language_communication/TAO,_Kimberly_Wei-yi-382.html

焦妮娜

講師

www.hkcc-polyu.edu.hk/staff_directory/language_communication/JIAO,_Nina-108.html

【Bilingual Editorial】