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The Secretary for Education and Manpower, Professor Arthur K C Li, announced at a press conference today (December 5) the Administration・s acceptance of the Report on Review of Medium of Instruction for Secondary Schools and Secondary School Places Allocation submitted by the Education Commission (EC).
Professor Li expressed his heartfelt thanks to the Chairman of the EC, Dr Rosanna Wong, the Chairman of the Working Group on Review of Secondary School Places Allocation (SSPA) and Medium of Instruction (MOI) for Secondary Schools Mr Michael Tien, and members of the EC and the Working Group. He was grateful for their strenuous efforts and contributions to the review in the past two and a half years.
"The EC's report is a comprehensive and pragmatic document. In making the proposals, the EC and the Working Group have carefully taken into account the views from different sectors of the community, and maintained a good balance between educational considerations and the practical needs of society," Professor Li said. "With the interest of students as the primary concern, the report has emphasised stability and consistency in the development of our education policies, with due regard to the outcomes.
"Since the implementation of mother-tongue teaching in secondary schools, we are gratified to note students' sustained improvement in academic performance in most of the major subjects. We will continue to uphold the mother tongue as the principal MOI and gradually put in place various long-term measures, with a view to consolidating the benefits of mother-tongue teaching," he said.
"We understand that the public has a high expectation of students' English proficiency. The Government will seek the approval of the Legislative Council for an injection of $1.1 billion into the Language Fund. It is hoped that additional resources would be provided as from the next school year for strengthening the biliteracy and trilingualism of students."
Professor Li hoped that different sectors of the community, in particular the education sector, would render support for the implementation of the EC's recommendations in pursuit of quality education in Hong Kong.
The major recommendations of the EC include the following:
MOI for Secondary Schools
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* Schools adopting mother-tongue teaching would be in the mainstream. If individual schools wish to adopt English as the MOI (EMI), they are required to fulfill the three prescribed criteria of student ability, teacher capability and support measures, and subject to a review every six years for quality assurance.
* For student ability, schools adopting English as the MOI must have at least 85% of its Secondary (S) 1 intake being able to learn through English. Since through-train secondary schools have a better understanding of their students and are better placed to cater for student diversity, the threshold can be flexibly lowered to 75%, which is applicable to S1 intake admitted from the linked primary schools. Besides, the deadline for feeder/nominated schools complying with the "through-train" principles to decide whether or not to form "through-trains" is deferred from May 31, 2006 to May 31, 2012 so as to allow them to have a better grasp of their student ability profiles under the revised SSPA mechanism before they make the decision.
* For teacher capability, non-language teachers teaching through English should at least be "able to communicate intelligibly and their use of English should have no adverse impact on students・ acquisition of the English language". The specific requirement is a Grade C or above in English Language (Syllabus B) of the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination or other recognised qualifications, including Band 6 or above in the International English Language Testing System (academic domain).
* For support measures, schools must purposefully and strategically put in place well-designed bridging and support programmes for students. Schools must also provide a language environment conducive to learning in English, including strengthening the learning of English through language-across-the-curriculum and creating an English immersion environment, etc.
* The between-school streaming arrangement would be maintained at junior secondary levels in order to provide secondary schools with a stable environment so that they may better realise their education vision. The multiple labeling arising from the within-school streaming approach (i.e. adopting Chinese or English as the MOI by class) can also be avoided. This helps foster a school culture marked by unity and harmony and reduces the possible pressure on students. Teachers are also given more room to cater for the needs of students, pursue professional development and enhance teaching effectiveness.
* The current flexibility on MOI arrangements at senior secondary levels should be maintained. Schools may choose to adopt English as the MOI for certain subjects in some classes. In making this choice, they are required to put in place well-designed bridging and support programmes systematically and strategically so as to help students adapt to the changes in MOI. Moreover, schools are required to meet the prescribed criteria on teacher capability and support measures. They should also ensure that their students are able to learn through English.
* The English proficiency of students learning in the mother tongue can be enhanced through the following measures :
(i) On the condition that students' learning of content subjects would not be adversely affected, schools adopting Chinese as the MOI (CMI) may allocate, on top of English Language lessons, not more than 15%, 20% and 25% of the total lesson time at S1, S2 and S3 respectively in a progressive manner for extended learning activities conducted in English in the subjects, with a view to increasing students' exposure to English;
(ii) The Government would continue to provide schools with the existing additional resources and enhance the flexibility in resources deployment by giving schools the option of a cash grant in lieu of part or all of the additional teaching posts; and
(iii) The Government would strengthen its efforts in enhancing the English proficiency of students learning through the mother tongue by investing additional resources. In this regard, the Government intends to provide each CMI school no more than $500,000 a year within a specified timeframe (say six years), having regard to their school-based implementation plans. The Government will seek the Legislative Council's approval for such an injection into the Language Fund.
* Schools adopting English as the MOI may also apply for additional grant for strengthening the English immersion environment in schools and promoting the learning of English through language-across-the-curriculum. In this connection, the Government also intends to seek the approval of the Legislative Council for such an injection into the Language Fund. Having regard to the school-based implementation plans, it is intended that each EMI school would be provided with a grant of no more than $500,000.
SSPA
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* The discretionary places quota would be increased from 20% to 30%, and the number of secondary schools that can be applied for would be increased from one to two. Ten per cent of the central allocation places of every secondary school would be assigned for allocation unrestricted by school nets.
* The scaling mechanism would be updated with the existing pre-S1 Hong Kong Attainment Test (pre-S1 HKAT) to be used as a scaling instrument. Samples of the pre-S1 HKAT results will be collected biennially. The average of the results of the two most recently sampled pre-S1 HKATs will be used to scale primary schools・ internal assessment results of the coming cohort of Primary 6 students proceeding to S1. This would help reduce unnecessary examination pressure on students.
Implementation Timetable
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* The various measures to enhance the English proficiency of students would be implemented from the 2006/07 school year.
* The revised SSPA mechanism would apply to students proceeding to S1 in September, 2007.
* The revised MOI arrangements for secondary schools would be implemented with effect from September, 2010.
Professor Li supplemented that the Government intended to allocate $200 million to assist interested schools to try out the use of Putonghua in teaching Chinese Language, with a view to enhancing students・ proficiency in both Putonghua and Chinese.
"The Working Group has spent more than two years reviewing the MOI arrangements for secondary schools and SSPA mechanism. A five-month public consultation was conducted, during which the Working Group carefully listened to the views from different sectors of the community. We are glad that the EMB has accepted all the recommendations put forward by the EC and has undertaken to seek the Legislative Council・s approval for funding allocation in order to invest further additional resources for enhancing students・ language proficiency as a whole," Dr Wong said.
The EMB has published a booklet summarising the revised MOI arrangements for secondary schools and SSPA mechanism. The report published by the EC and the booklet by the EMB can be assessed on the EMB website (http://www.emb.gov.hk), or collected at all District Offices from tomorrow (December 6) onwards.
Ends/Monday, December 5, 2005
Issued at HKT 13:09
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