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The following is issued on behalf of the Committee on Home-School Co-operation:
The Committee on Home-School Co-operation (CHSC) today (September 3) released the Primary School Profiles 2003 online as an initiative to provide parents with up-to-date information on primary schools throughout the year.
Introducing the new Cyber Primary School Profiles at a press conference, the CHSC Chairman, Dr Cheung Kwok-wah, said that the cyber edition had an edge over the traditional printed copies as its presentation would never be constrained by the number of pages. It would also allow schools to update their profile information constantly for parents' reference.
"In addition to basic information on individual schools, the cyber edition also provides parents with hyperlinks for access to a variety of useful information such as education reform, quality assurance inspections and school websites," he added.
The cyber edition is a project commissioned to the HKedCity to provide a user-oriented and cost-effective data bank on school information. Since parents may need time to familiarise themselves with the e-service, the CHSC has produced a quantity of monochromatic printed copies as a transitional arrangement.
Dr Cheung said that the Profiles aimed at promoting schools' transparency so as to assist parents in choosing suitable schools for their children.
"Parents are encouraged to make good use of the Profiles to look into the characteristics of individual schools from various perspectives before making an appropriate choice of schools to cater for their children's personality and needs."
The Primary School Profiles 2003, the fourth issue published by the CHSC, covers more than 700 primary schools in Hong Kong, featuring essential school data such as school and teacher information, school characteristics, facilities, class structure, timetables, extra-curricular activities and fees.
All the information was provided by individual schools on a voluntary basis and the content of the printed version was valid as of May 1, 2003.
For the Cyber Primary School Profiles 2003, please visit the CHSC website (http://embhsc.hkedcity.net) or the direct link (http://embhsc.hkedcity.net/2003/primary/).
Each printed version contains 18 district booklets. Parents of the children entering Primary One in September 2004 will be given a booklet for their own district through their respective kindergartens and childcare centres. For children not attending kindergartens or childcare centres, their parents can obtain a booklet while applying for the Primary One Admission System at the School Places Allocation Section of the Education and Manpower Bureau.
In addition, two full sets will be placed in each kindergarten and childcare centre for parents' reference. Copies of the Profiles will also be kept at District Offices, Public Libraries, Regional Education Offices and the CHSC's Parents' Centre for reference by the public.
For enquiries about the Profiles, please call the Regional Education Offices of the Education and Manpower Bureau (Hong Kong: 2863 4646; Kowloon: 2782 8383; New Territories East: 2639 4876; and New Territories West: 2437 7272) or the CHSC Secretariat (2782 7641, 2782 5864 or 2782 7610).
End/Wednesday, September 3, 2003
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