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The Government has accepted the recommendation of the Committee on the Initiation of Moral and National Education Subject to formally shelve the Curriculum Guide of the Moral and National Education (MNE) subject.
A spokesman for the Education Bureau (EDB) said today (October 8) that the Government would not request schools to adopt the Curriculum Guide and the EDB would not use it as the basis for school inspection.
Once the Curriculum Guide is shelved, the Committee will not, nor will it be necessary for the Committee to further review or propose changes to it. The Secretary for Education has also instructed that there was no need for the Curriculum Development Council to further review the Curriculum Guide.
ˇ§Under the principle of professional autonomy, if school sponsoring bodies and schools decide to introduce the MNE subject, the Government and the community should respect and have confidence in them. Schools may freely adopt any teaching guides and relevant teaching resources that their professional judgment deems appropriate. Hence, the Government should not prescribe any rules on how this should be done. Nor should the Government provide any mandatory or official curriculum guide in respect of the MNE subject.
ˇ§Schools can continue to use the Moral and National Education Support Grant of HK$530,000 disbursed to them in August this year. There is no time limit on the use of the grant. The unspent balance can be carried forward to the next school year until the grant is used up,ˇ¨ the spokesman said.
Ends/Monday, October 8, 2012
Issued at HKT 21:11
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