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Following is a question by the Hon Ip Kin-yuen and a reply by the Secretary for Education, Mr Eddie Ng Hak-kim, in the Legislative Council today (November 20):
Question:
Recently, there have been public comments that the encouragement of students to discuss Hong Kong people's participation in socio-political affairs by the teaching and learning activities under the theme of "rule of law and socio-political participation" in the Liberal Studies (LS) subject of the New Senior Secondary Academic Structure is one of the causes for the massive turnouts of secondary students in the "occupation" movement. There have also been press reports that the Government intends to amend the LS curriculum to delete topics relating to the politics of Hong Kong and beef up the contents in areas such as the Basic Law. Some educational bodies consider that such a move is tantamount to political intervention in educational affairs. Regarding the curricula of senior secondary subjects, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the details of the authorities' plan to amend the LS curriculum and the justifications for that; the authorities' considerations in, and their procedure for, setting senior secondary subjects as core or elective ones, or changing the subjects as such;
(2) of the criteria and procedure for amending the curricula and assessment guides for various subjects; the time generally required for the amendment process, and whether the subject teachers concerned will be consulted before amendments are made; if so, of the details and scale of the consultation; whether it will undertake that it will not, under any circumstances, amend the curricula of various subjects based on non-professional considerations; and
(3) as it has been reported that an incumbent Executive Council Member, who was formerly an official of the Education Bureau once promoting the LS subject, claimed that the subject had become morbid, whether the authorities have assessed if the subject has deviated from its objective; if the assessment outcome is in the affirmative, of the details; if the assessment outcome is in the negative, the justifications for that?
Reply:
President,
Our reply to Hon Ip's questions is as follows:
(1) and (2) The curriculum review of Liberal Studies is part of the New Academic Structure (NAS) Review. Since August 2012, the Education Bureau (EDB), the Curriculum Development Council (CDC) and the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA) have jointly launched the review of the New Senior Secondary (NSS) curriculum and assessment (including Liberal Studies). Short-term recommendations were announced in April 2013, and the first batch of medium-term recommendations as well as the fine-tuning measures on the implementation of curriculum and assessment were announced in April 2014 (for details, please see the designated page of the NAS review (334.edb.hkedcity.net/EN/334_review.php)). The second stage of the NAS Medium-term Review is now in progress, including students' learning experiences in the whole-school curriculum, the impact of the NAS on students' further studies, the implementation of curriculum and assessment at the school level (including school-based arrangements), and the implementation of curriculum and assessment of individual subjects (including Liberal Studies). The proposed recommendations would be made according to student-centered and professional principles (including considering the achievement of curriculum aims, teachers' workload, balanced breadth and depth of the overall curriculum contents, students' knowledge foundation in the junior secondary level, catering for learner diversity in curriculum and assessment, alignment between public assessment and curriculum and backwash effects etc.). We will further consult different stakeholders such as teachers, principals, tertiary institutions, employers and students through multiple channels (e.g. questionnaire surveys, focus group meetings and forums) in end November.
The procedure and time generally required for revising the curriculum and assessment guides for various subjects would depend on subject nature and needs. When making important revisions, teachers and other stakeholders will be consulted, together with the existing committee mechanism and professionalism taking major role, for discussing and implementing the relevant revisions.
Liberal Studies is inter-disciplinary by nature and is indispensable to the curriculum as a core subject. On one hand, it allows students to study an extensive curriculum appropriate for Hong Kong through six modules, and covers personal development, society and culture (including local, national and global aspects), science and technology. On the other hand, it enables students to develop on the knowledge foundation from the basic education and utilise their interdisciplinary knowledge with an issue-enquiry approach, so as to broaden their horizons, to construct more knowledge, to think critically and rationally, and to develop multiple perspectives. It also helps students develop positive values and attitudes, so that they can better prepare themselves for the responsibilities and multiple roles in society and their future life.
Liberal Studies is complementary to the other core subjects, elective subjects and Other Learning Experiences, providing senior secondary students with diversified learning experiences suitable for their own interests and abilities.
The deliberation on whether to set an NSS subject as a core subject or an elective subject should be evidence-based. We should consider whether the change can achieve the same education aims, maintain international standard and recognition, and articulation to study and career pathways. As the implementation and effectiveness of the NSS curriculum and assessment have yet to reach a state of stability and the curriculum has just been implemented for a limited period of time, more time is needed to collect data and conduct studies for fine-tuning and updating.
(3) We respect the opinions expressed by different sectors of the community on educational issues. As I have pointed out in the reply above, the NAS Medium-term Review is still on-going. We will adhere to the student-centered professional principles, propose recommendations and consult schools, teachers and professional organisations of the relevant subjects, as well as other stakeholders. The EDB will carefully collect and listen to views from all sides in order to make the review more comprehensive. The medium-term recommendations and the long-term development direction of Liberal Studies will be announced by July 2015.
It is also noteworthy that the efforts made by the education profession on Liberal Studies deserve our recognition. According to the Progress Report on the New Academic Structure Review released in 2013, most teachers and students agreed that the curriculum aims and learning outcomes of Liberal Studies had been achieved. Most teachers also agreed that the Independent Enquiry Study was able to nurture students' problem-solving and independent thinking ability, and had a positive impact on building up students' confidence in learning.
Ends/Thursday, November 20, 2014
Issued at HKT 16:25
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