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The Secretary for Education, Mr Michael Suen, today (April 30) accepted the recommendations by the Curriculum Development Council (CDC) on the refined Curriculum Guide for the "Moral and National Education" (MNE) subject in primary and secondary schools.
Mr Suen expressed his sincere gratitude to members of the CDC and its Ad Hoc Committee on Moral and National Education for their dedication and efforts in reviewing the current Moral and Civic Education framework for primary and secondary schools and developing the MNE Curriculum Guide.
The Chairperson of the Ad Hoc Committee, Professor Lee Chack-fan, said a four-month consultation on MNE was conducted from May to August 2011 to gauge views on the MNE curriculum from different sectors of society. In light of the views expressed in the 1,000 submissions, the Committee, after careful deliberation, had refined the curriculum guide.
"Indeed, the promotion of moral and civic education (MCE) has long been part of the school curriculum. It was further strengthened in the 2008 MCE curriculum framework. Apart from classroom learning and teaching, elements of moral, civic and national education have also been incorporated in such activities as Mainland exchange, visits, service and project learning," Professor Lee said.
"The MNE subject under the curriculum guide provides students with a more systematic, holistic and sustainable learning experience that can cater for their developmental needs and cultivate their moral and national qualities through a value-based curriculum," he said.
"This subject emphasises the nurturing of positive values and a responsible character. It enables students to acquire desirable personal, moral and national qualities, enriching their life and facilitating their identity-building in the domains of family, society, the country and the world.
"Through classroom learning, contextual learning and practices in daily life, the MNE subject aims at developing students' capacity for analytical and independent thinking as well as their positive values and attitudes, enhancing their ability to distinguish right from wrong, to strike a balance among conflicting perspectives while being at the same time tolerant of differences between themselves and others, as well as to make informed decisions in their whole-person development," Professor Lee added.
Through the issuance of a School Circular, the Education Bureau (EDB) has advised that the MNE subject be implemented in primary and secondary schools starting from the 2012/13 and 2013/14 school years respectively. To facilitate better preparation and planning, schools are provided with a three-year "initiation period" - from the 2012/13 school year to the 2014/15 school year for primary schools and from the 2013/14 school year to the 2015/16 school year for secondary schools.
During the three-year "initiation period", secondary and primary schools should plan and prepare for the full implementation of the MNE subject according to the Curriculum Guide and the school contexts. These include curriculum planning, setting up an MNE subject team, and developing learning and teaching resources which should be reflected in the "School Development Plan" and the "Annual School Plan".
Upon full implementation, in respect of their primary and junior secondary levels (Primary One to Secondary Three), schools are expected to flexibly allocate 3-5 per cent of the total lesson time (around 1-2 periods per week) in the school timetable for the MNE subject according to the curriculum guide. For senior secondary levels (Secondary Four to Six), schools may make flexible arrangements to fully achieve the learning objectives of the MNE subject; designation of fixed periods is not strictly required since currently at least 5 per cent of the total lesson time (135 hours in three years) has already been allocated to Moral and Civic Education, Community Service, and Career-related Experiences under Other Learning Experiences (OLE).
A spokesman added that a series of learning and teaching support measures will be provided to schools for implementing the MNE subject. These include providing an additional grant, the "Moral and National Education Subject Support Grant" (MNESSG), developing and refining learning and teaching resources as well as organising local and Mainland professional development programmes.
"The MNESSG is a one-off cash grant of HK$530,000 which will be disbursed to each of the aided/government/caput/Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) secondary, primary and special schools. Schools can use the grant to employ teaching staff, hire services or procure resources pertaining to the learning and teaching of the MNE subject.
"In addition, schools can make use of the grant to flexibly employ supply teachers to provide relief for teachers taking part in the 'Moral and National Education Subject - Mainland Exchange Programme for Hong Kong Teachers'," the spokesman said.
The refined Moral and National Education Curriculum Guide (Primary One to Secondary Six) and its executive summary are available online at EDB's homepage (www.edb.gov.hk/cd/mcne). Details of the support measures and the grants for MNE to schools will be announced in an EDB Circular Memorandum later.
Ends/Monday, April 30, 2012
Issued at HKT 14:52
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