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The Deputy Secretary for Education, Dr Catherine K K Chan, today (December 10) chaired the meeting of the Coordinating Committee on Basic Competency Assessment and Assessment Literacy. The Committee, established in October 2014, comprises academics from tertiary institutions, principals and teachers. The Committee advises on the direction relating to the development of the basic competency assessment project (including the Territory-wide System Assessment (TSA) and Student Assessment) as well as the enhancement of assessment literacy in schools.
The Secretary for Education, Mr Eddie Ng Hak-kim, announced on October 31 that the Committee was tasked to conduct a comprehensive review on the implementation of the TSA. To strengthen the representation of relevant stakeholders, the Committee introduced a member from the area of home-school co-operation, and increased the number of members representing secondary and primary schools. The membership list of the Committee is in the Annex.
The Committee decided at the meeting to set up two working groups, which would respectively conduct in-depth examination on the reporting and administration arrangement of the TSA, and the papers and question design of the TSA.
Dr Chan said, "We would examine whether the prevailing arrangement for basic competence assessment achieves its original goal, including provision of information to schools and the Government for improvement of school curriculum planning and enhancement of learning and teaching, as well as strengthening the provision of professional support to schools and teachers. At the meeting, we shared the local experience on making good use of TSA information to enhance learning and teaching, and the arrangement of system assessment overseas. The Committee was also kept abreast of the concerns and views of various stakeholders on the TSA. In addition, we have preliminarily assessed the benefits and trade-offs of various review options of the TSA, with a view to proposing improvement suggestions.
"Members actively participated in the discussion, providing valuable insights to the review of the TSA. The Committee will continue to listen to views of various stakeholders, with a view to coming up with an initial proposal by the end of January 2016."
In addition, the Education Bureau will conduct a number of regional parent seminars from mid-December 2015 to January 2016 to gauge the views of parents on the implementation of the TSA. Parents will be invited to attend the seminars through schools.
Ends/Thursday, December 10, 2015
Issued at HKT 18:11
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