*****************************************************

The Secretary for Education and Manpower, Mrs Fanny Law said that the task of nurturing talents still tops the SAR Government's agenda, and that the Government was firmly committed to investing in education.

At a press conference to explain the comprehensive blueprint for the development of education in Hong Kong mapped out in the Chief Executive's Policy Address today (October 13), Mrs Law set as the key tasks for the next two years upgrading teacher qualifications, reforming the curricula and teaching methods, improving the assessment and examination systems, and providing more learning opportunities at the senior secondary and above levels.

"The Chief Executive has announced his acceptance of all the reform recommendations put forward by the Education Commission (EC) relating to the academic system, the curricula, and the assessment mechanism. Full implementation of all the plans outlined in the Policy Address will increase our annual recurrent expenditure on education by about $2 billion. Total spending on education now represents 4.25 per cent of our Gross Domestic Product, or 24 per cent of recurrent expenditure," she said.

"In implementing EC's proposals on the education reform, we will proceed in a gradual and orderly manner. We have tentatively drawn up the priorities for implementation and their supporting measures. We will closely monitor progress and coordinate different areas of work.

"For this purpose, we have set up a central coordinating team, and will invite as members front-line educators who have actively participated in the EC's review. The team will maintain close liaison with the schools and organizations concerned to assist them in solving any problems they may encounter in the reform process, and to evaluate the effectiveness of the reform," she added.

To raise the general educational level of the population and to encourage life-long learning, Mrs Law pointed out that starting from the 2002/03 school year, all Secondary Three students who have the ability and wish to continue their study would be given the opportunities to receive Secondary Four education or vocational training. At the same time, the Government was committed to increasing gradually the provision of tertiary places in the coming ten years, with the aim of providing tertiary education for 60 per cent of the young people in the appropriate age group.

"We estimate that we will need to provide an additional 6 000 places at senior secondary level by the 2003/04 school year. The education sector will be fully consulted before we start detailed planning on the curricula and the mechanism for allocating the school places. Our preliminary idea is to provide all Secondary Three students of public sector schools with direct subsidy so that they can continue their study in the same schools or in other schools.

"As for tertiary education, we will encourage the tertiary institutions, continuing education providers and private enterprises to provide continuing education other than the traditional matriculation courses. School operators will be granted loans and land for building the schools. Various levels of subsidy will also be provided for students in the forms of fee remissions, low-interest loans and non-means tested loans to meet their financial needs.

"To ensure the curricula quality, we will collaborate with the Hong Kong Council for Academic Accreditation, the Federation for Continuing Education in Tertiary Institutions and various professional bodies to work out an academic accreditation and quality assurance mechanism," Mrs Law said.

Regarding the professional development of teachers, Mrs Law said the key to the quality and effectiveness of basic education was to develop an outstanding and professional teaching force. From the 2004/05 school year onwards, all new teachers graduating from teacher training institutions would be degree holders.

"We must first create more room for teachers by cutting down unnecessary administration work, reducing meaningless examinations and useless home assignments, improving teaching arrangements and timetabling, strengthening community and parental support for teachers, and at the same time encouraging teachers to pursue continuing education, conduct classroom observation and share teaching experiences.

"We will increase the subsidy for schools from this year. For example, for schools operating 19 classes or above, each primary school will receive an additional $550,000 each year, and each secondary school an additional $300,000. We will also allow schools to have more flexibility so that they can put their resources to the best use. We will make available in this school year a total grant of $23 million for the purchase of reference books on teaching and learning. We hope that this initiative will facilitate school-based professional development," she said.

On teacher training, Mrs Law said that the Government would collaborate with the training providers to formulate ways to strengthen pre-service and in-service training to be in line with the principles and direction of the education reform, as well as working hand in hand with educators to set up a professional development ladder for teachers for the development of a culture of life-long learning and professional self-improvement.

"The Government will also actively consider the establishment of a General Teaching Council. From next year onwards, the Education Department will provide new principals and teachers with induction programmes, and will join hands with the education sector to explore how the appraisal and promotion mechanism can be improved," she said.

"As for pre-primary education, to further enhance teachers' qualifications, all new kindergarten teachers are required to possess five passes in HKCEE (including Chinese and English) from the 2001/02 school year. From the 2003/04 school year, all new kindergarten teachers must have completed the pre-service training for qualified kindergarten teachers. We will provide child care education courses for all serving kindergarten principals and child care centre supervisors in the coming five years. We will also introduce, from the 2001/02 school year, a principal-ship training course.

Concerning the reform in curricula and teaching methods, Mrs Law said that the Curriculum Development Council would consult the public and the education sector next month on the specific arrangements of curricula reform. The theme of the consultation is "Learning to Learn".

"Our aim is to develop children's habit and interest in reading in the stage of early childhood. In this connection, we will provide a grant of $20,000 in this school year to each non-profit making kindergarten and child care centre for the purchase of library books. We will also set aside $50 million to promote parent education and home-school co-operation, starting from the early childhood stage.

"In primary education, we should focus on developing students' interest in reading, enabling them to be bi-literate and tri-lingual, equipping them with the basic ability in numeracy and IT application, and enabling them to learn by themselves. We should also strengthen moral and civic education. For secondary education, the curricula will be grouped into eight learning areas to encourage all-round development.

"We have earmarked $10 million to provide enrichment programmes for gifted students, and will continue to promote integrated education. It is estimated that the recurrent spending for the latter purpose will increase to $50 million in four years," she said.

On the improvement of the assessment and examination systems, Mrs Law said: "To ensure that all students reach the basic standards in the key learning areas, we will introduce the 'Basic Competency Assessments in Chinese, English and Mathematics' by phases starting from the 2001/02 school year. The Hong Kong Examinations Authority will also reform the marking system of the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination by introducing an element of core competency to a number of key subjects to set an objective standard for the passing grade."

Mrs Law noted that to expedite school improvement works, the Government would complete the feasibility studies for all remaining 358 schools in the School Improvement Programme by the end of 2002.

"A total of $10 billion has been earmarked to carry out improvement works for schools, subject to the results of the feasibility studies. The target is to complete all the works in the 2004/05 school year. As for schools which cannot benefit from improvement works to the existing school premises, the Government will consider the possibility of redevelopment or reprovisioning, " she said.

She added that the Steering Committee of the Quality Education Fund (QEF) had agreed to provide matching funds for public sector schools to cover 50 per cent of the cost of installing air-conditioners in classrooms and libraries. Schools in need may apply directly to the QEF.

End/Friday, October 13, 2000

NNNN