ABSTRACT
The turn of the millennium is seen as a period of major transition for Hong Kong as it adjusts to the return of Chinese sovereignty after a century-anda-half as a British colony, but, for educational planners and providers in the territory, transition merely represents the status quo. Transience has epitomised life in Hong Kong, especially since the Second World War and the Chinese Civil War, as successive influxes of political and economic migrants from East and West have sought refuge on this once barren rock, many using it as a stepping-stone to greener pastures. More than one Director of Education has compared the task of providing education in the territory to attempting such an undertaking in a mainline railway station (Sweeting 1990, 1993).
