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In response to press enquiries, a spokesman for the Education Bureau (EDB) said that the Bureau had met with representatives of various secondary school councils today (February 26) to further exchange views on the way forward for the medium of instruction (MOI) policy. The Government reiterated at the meeting its determination to uphold mother-tongue teaching, adding that it would be prepared to make some adjustments to allow certain degree of flexibility for schools to enhance students¡¦ exposure to English. The Government¡¦s aim is to ensure that our students are proficient in both Chinese and English.
The spokesman emphasised that adjustments to the MOI policy must be premised on the following three broad principles:
1. the three objective criteria of student ability, teacher capability and support measures must continue to be taken into account in considering whether English should be adopted as the MOI;
2. there must be a defined mechanism to ensure effective implementation; and
3. there should be high degree of transparency to ensure that the community and parents are well informed of the specific MOI framework put in place by individual schools, the rationale and implementation details.
¡§It is not the Government¡¦s objective to overturn the existing MOI policy. We are only aiming at making adjustments to the implementation details to ensure that the policy could better align with the need of the community. While providing flexibility to the schools, we must ensure that our students could acquire subject knowledge effectively and that the arrangements could help raise our students' English proficiency,¡¨ the spokesman reiterated.
The spokesman added that the Bureau would continue to listen to the views of stakeholders and consider their suggestions. The Bureau would examine how the MOI policy could be fine-tuned in a systematic and orderly manner having regard to the needs of students and the need to facilitate stable school development.
Ends/Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Issued at HKT 20:23
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