********************************************************
The following is the speech delivered by the Director of Education, Mrs Fanny Law, at the Awards Presentation Ceremony of the HK Sino-British Fellowship Trust Scholars' Association this (Friday) evening.
Professor Sir Harry, Professor Young, Distinguished Guests, teachers and students,
It is indeed my pleasure to be here tonight to share the joy of the winners of the Hong Kong Sino-British Fellowship Awards, and to extend to them my heartiest congratulations.
The Charles Frankland Moore Award goes to the most outstanding candidate among 80 000 day students who sat in the 1999 Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination. This is a remarkable achievement which embodies many years of hard work and determination.
Equally deserving of recognition are students who have demonstrated an exceptional ability to overcome their disabilities and achieved excellent results in the public examination. To this end, the Hong Kong Sino-British Fellowship Trust Scholars' Foundation Award goes to the best performing handicapped student in the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination.
Winners of the Elizabeth Frankland Moore Awards have attained remarkable results in the Special Education course and the Pre-school Education course of the Hong Kong Institute of Education. Teachers for special and pre-primary education have a particularly challenging role in catering for individual differences and maximising individual potentials.
These awards have brought out the best among our students and student teachers. The winners model the qualities which are the key to success. Invariably, success demands hard work, perseverance, a positive attitude, and an urge for continuous improvement. In the case of teachers, success is marked by subject knowledge, an understanding of student motivation and effective learning, love and concern for students, and most of all, a passion for education.
I am grateful to the Hong Kong Sino-British Fellowship Trust Scholars' Association for granting these awards every year which is a great encouragement to students and teachers. The attention given to special education and the disabled is particularly welcomed. As the Hong Kong community becomes more affluent, notwithstanding the recent economic downturn, it is right that we should take better care of the disadvantaged in the community.
In 1997, the Education Department started a two-year pilot project on the integration of children with special needs in nine mainstream schools. The project promoted a whole-school approach to integration which aims to create an inclusive school culture. This requires the collaboration of teachers, home-school cooperation, curriculum adaptation, modification of teaching and assessment methods.
The project evaluation shows a strong correlation between the leadership of school heads and the capability of schools in responding to the challenges of integration. While most teachers saw themselves gaining more confidence in mastering new instructional skills, many had difficulties with co-operative teaching and meeting individual needs. More training will be required to foster better collaboration among teachers and enhance teaching skills.
The project has been expanded to 21 schools in the 1999/2000 school year and is planned to be extended further to 40 schools in the following school year. In the final analysis, whereas knowledge and skills can be acquired through training, an inclusive school culture is the pre-requisite for the success of integration.
It is our firm belief that every child has the potential to learn. As educators, we must provide equality of learning opportunities for all, and tailor the curriculum to suit individual interests and abilities. Providing lifelong and life-wide learning opportunities for all is the underlying theme of the Education Commission's education blueprint for the 21st Century.
We invite and encourage the community to participate in the education reform that is being discussed. More importantly, we as a community have to work together to nurture a culture of lifelong and life-wide learning, without which it will be difficult for the Education Commission's reform measures to take root.
I look to the Hong Kong Sino-British Fellowship Scholars' Association for your leadership and continued support in enhancing the quality of education in Hong Kong, and I wish the awardees continued success in their endeavours.
As Christmas is drawing near, may I also take this opportunity to wish everyone present a Merry Christmas and success in the New Millennium.
End/Friday, December 10, 1999
NNNN