10. The achievements of the present education system are consider- able and our best schools can compare favourably with schools any- where. It is not our intention to minimize the excellent standards that have been attained in the past but it is our belief that much needs to be done to improve our existing schools and to develop new roles for the schools we have yet to build. The educational system needs a new direction, a new emphasis to prepare it to meet what can now be seen to be its present and future roles.
CHAPTER II
WHAT IS NEEDED: A NEW DIRECTION
11. A brief account of the present education system is given in Appendix III. We noted the introduction of various measures which as they make their impact on the schools should accelerate the improve- ment in the quality of education in the primary schools. These include the various types of primary school teachers' refresher courses now being offered, and the greater use now being made of experimentation with teaching projects by means of pilot schemes in primary schools to improve the quality of education in the primary sector. These are commendable. We have also noted with interest the potentials of the new Curriculum Development Committees and the expansion of Educa- tional Television.
12. We have been charged with the responsibility of advising on any changes which we think should be introduced into the present type of secondary education. We thought, as a first step, that we should con- sider what might be done to improve our present schools so as to bring them into line with the general objectives outlined in Chapter I. In discussing changes, one must start from what now exists. Whatever is good at present in the education system must not be done away with before a better substitute has been found. This does not mean, however, that the better schools in the present system should not continue to seek to improve the quality of education they offer; nor does it mean that all effort for the immediate future should be concentrated only on building up new schools of a different kind. More radical solutions are called for.
13. Whilst we consider it essential that the present standards of academic education should be maintained, we believe it important that
•