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LCQ14: Small class teaching

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    Following is a question by the Hon Frederick Fung and a written reply by the Secretary for Education and Manpower, Professor Arthur K C Li, in the Legislative Council today (June 8):

Question:

    It has been reported that an overseas study has proved that small class teaching is more effective for pupils of lower social and economic status. The Secretary for Education and Manpower recently stated in public that he intended to implement small class teaching in primary schools with more poor pupils, so as to support the Government's policy of helping the poor. Moreover, he also suggested expanding the small class teaching scheme. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the criteria for identifying the schools with more poor pupils; when such schools will be invited to participate in the small class teaching scheme and the number of schools involved, and how the authorities avoid adverse labelling of poor pupils from the schools which have been invited to participate;

(b) of the difference between the small class teaching scheme to be implemented in schools with more poor pupils and the existing similar scheme, and how it will assess the effectiveness of the scheme in helping poor pupils to get rid of poverty;

(c) of the details of the findings of the above overseas study; whether the scope of the study covered the differences in learning among pupils of different social strata and how small class teaching might help poor pupils to get rid of poverty; and

(d) whether the reasons for the authorities' suggestion to expand the small class teaching scheme include their endorsement of small class teaching; if so, whether they will expeditiously implement small class teaching across the board?

Reply:

Madam President,

(a) The Administration intends to implement a small class teaching scheme (the Scheme) at junior levels in primary schools with a high concentration of students with weak family support, so as to support the Government's pledge to alleviate poverty. We plan to use the percentage of junior primary students receiving Comprehensive Social Security Assistance or full grant of the School Textbook Assistance Scheme of the school as an objective eligibility criterion for selecting schools to participate in the Scheme. Eligible schools will be invited to participate in the Scheme by the end of this school year. Since the student enrolment of the next school year is not yet clear, we are not able to confirm the number of schools involved for the time being. To forestall possible labelling effect, we will not make public the names of the schools invited or eventually participating in the Scheme. We will brief the Legislative Council Panel on Education on the details of the Scheme at its meeting on June 13, 2005.

(b) The existing Study on Small Class Teaching (the Study), with the participation of 37 schools of different backgrounds, aims to assess the benefits of small class teaching and to identify the teaching strategies and support necessary for maximizing the benefits.

    The Scheme to be launched in schools with a high concentration of disadvantaged students is based on the findings of some overseas studies on small class teaching which indicate, inter alia, that small class teaching has more significant positive effects on junior primary students of lower socio-economic status and with weak family support. As a measure to support the Government's pledge to alleviate poverty, the Scheme aims at giving more individualised attention to disadvantaged students in their learning through small class teaching. As it is a new initiative, we have to accumulate more experience. We will evaluate the effectiveness of the Scheme, following basically the evaluation framework developed for the Study.

    To help teachers involved adapt the pedagogical content and strategies to optimise the benefits of small class teaching, we would provide participating schools with professional support, similar to that given to schools participating in the Study. Through assessing students' performance in both the academic and affective domains such as self-confidence, self-esteem and learning motivation, we will find out how small class teaching can enhance the provision of equal opportunities for these disadvantaged students to develop and the extent to which education can facilitate their upward social mobility.

(c) Among the overseas studies on small class teaching, quite a number of them have come to the conclusion that small class teaching at junior levels of schooling will have more significant effects on disadvantaged students. Key information on some of the studies is outlined at Annex.

(d) Apart from the Study and the proposed Scheme to implement small class teaching at schools with a high concentration of students with weak family support, we have no intention to further extend small class teaching for the time being. The Education and Manpower Bureau is in principle supportive of the broad direction of small class teaching and believes that a strategic implementation approach should be adopted to optimise the benefits of small class teaching. The experience and outcomes of the above two initiatives will help the Government formulate a long-term and effective policy on small class teaching.

Ends/Wednesday, June 8, 2005

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