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The Chief Executive, Mr Donald Tsang, today (May 12) visited Holy Family Canossian School (Kowloon Tong) and the new Kowloon Tong Education Services Centre (KTC) of the Education and Manpower Bureau to see students learning in the new teaching and learning culture and the progress of education reforms.
Accompanied by the Permanent Secretary for Education and Manpower, Mrs Fanny Law, the Chief Executive saw the primary students engaged in a variety of school classroom activities, including an English play performance, a Putonghua recitation, project learning, orchestra rehearsal and learning with the aid of information technology.
"The variety of the extra-circular activities and the range of facilities deeply impress me. But what impresses me most are the smiles on the students' faces. Happy learning is what education is about," Mr Tsang said.
"Human resource is almost the only resource of Hong Kong. The Government has placed special emphasis on education, with one dollar on education for every five dollars spent," the Chief Executive said. "We will continue to invest heavily in education to nurture talent for our knowledge-based society.
"The students I have met today are all young but already have a solid foundation of biliteracy and trilingualism. They are good at communicating with others and eager to learn with the application of information technology and through project learning. From their motivation to learn, we can see the achievements of the new teaching and learning culture.
"Based on local and international studies that have also recognised the continued outstanding performance of Hong Kong students, we should be confident in the education reforms under way," Mr Tsang said.
The Programme for International Student Assessment, organised by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, also ranked Hong Kong, one of more than 40 participating countries and regions, first in Mathematics, second in Problem Solving, third in Science and in the top 10 in Reading. In world-wide academic and artistic competitions, Hong Kong students won 32 awards in 2005, up nearly 40% from 23 awards in 2004.
The Chief Executive took the opportunity to meet teachers taking part in collaborative lesson preparation and exchange views on school matters with the school head and her fellow teachers.
"Quality education hinges on a high quality teaching force. The professionalism of Hong Kong teachers has been on the rise. Teachers' enthusiasm for professional development deserves our praise," he said.
Mr Tsang added that the Government had attached great importance to support for teachers. After increasing the provision of the Capacity Enhancement Grant in the current school year, the bureau would create additional permanent teaching posts for better care for Band Three students of secondary schools and the full implementation of the Primary School Curriculum Leader and Teaching by Subject Specialists Schemes. The improvement to the student guidance personnel-to-class ratio would also enable teachers to concentrate on teaching.
The Chief Executive then visited the nearby KTC. Adjacent to Kowloon Tong MTR and KCR Stations, the new centre is a five-storey building divided into East and West Blocks. On top of office space, the KTC is equipped with conference facilities, an exhibition gallery and a resources centre to provide services to teachers, parents, students and the general public.
Mr Tsang was briefed on the progress of education reforms, the quality assurance system for schools and the role of Regional Education Offices in support of school development.
Ends/Friday, May 12, 2006
Issued at HKT 17:52
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