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Following is a question by the Hon Albert Chan and a reply by the Secretary for Education, Mr Michael Suen, in the Legislative Council today (February 20):
Question:
Recently, quite a number of parents of primary and secondary school students have reflected to me that their children could not enjoy the Christmas and New Year holidays, nor could they join their families in traveling abroad during the holidays, because they have to prepare for the mid-term examinations scheduled to be held immediately after the holidays. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
(a) it knows the respective numbers of primary and secondary schools which held the mid-term examinations immediately before and after the Christmas and New Year holidays in the current school year; and
(b) it will advise schools to avoid scheduling the mid-term examinations to be held immediately after the Christmas and New Year holidays; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply
President,
(a) In response to the above question, we have collected some statistical information based on the school calendars provided by schools. We found that about 100 primary schools and 120 secondary schools conducted mid-term examinations before the Christmas and New Year holidays. The numbers of primary schools and secondary schools that held mid-term examinations after the Christmas and New Year holidays were 450 and 320 respectively.
(b) Examination is one of the multiple modes of assessment. Teachers could diagnose student learning difficulties through assessment in the teaching and learning process and provide timely quality feedback to enhance students'learning.
No particular arrangement of assessments would fit all schools at different key stages or levels of learning as an appropriate schedule. We should allow schools to exercise some flexibility over the allocation of various learning and teaching activities, including arranging the time for examinations and holidays to suit schools' day-to-day running and students' needs. However, schools have to adopt effective measures to enhance learning and avoid spending too much time on tests and examinations.
Ends/Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Issued at HKT 15:35
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