APPENDIX IV
THE EXAMINATION SYSTEM
THE present scope and organization of public examinations in Hong Kong is as follows.
2. At present, examinations regularly open to the public in Hong Kong fall, in general, into four categories:
(a) The Secondary School Entrance Examination;
(b) The Certificate of Education Examinations;
(c) External examinations conducted by the Examinations Division of the Education
Department on behalf of various overseas examining bodies; and
(d) Advanced Level and Matriculation examinations conducted by the two Universi-
ties.
3. In addition, numerous examinations of a more specialized nature are conducted by a variety of organizations for existing and intending members,-for example, by government departments and the Training Division of the Colonial Secretariat, by the Colleges of Education, and by the Hong Kong Polytechnic.
The Secondary School Entrance Examination
4. This examination, taken in early May each year, is open to all in Primary 6, apart from a very few exceedingly overage pupils, but entry is through schools; there are no private candidates. The numbers participating in recent year have been:
Candidates
1971
1972
...
...
...
...
68,301
...
...
79,156
...
88,543
Percentage of all P. 6 pupils (approx.)
1973
67
71
74
The examination consists of three main papers, Chinese, English and Mathematics, each of 45 minutes, taken on one afternoon, with 50-minute intervals, between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Almost all the questions are of objective type with multiple choice questions constituting the major part of each paper. The Mathematics paper may be taken in Chinese or English. Two special Alternative English papers are set for non-Chinese- speaking candidates. Multiple choice questions are machine-marked; the conventional questions are marked centrally in the Examinations Division, by primary school teachers and College of Education students with the supervision and assistance of some thirty “examination assistants". There is no passing or failing as such, but the examination is essentially competitive in that the results, in combination with the parents' expressed wishes, determine to which type of school and to which particular school the pupil may pass on; but those parents who are able and willing to secure a place in a private school are of course at liberty to do so, notwithstanding that the pupil has participated in the examination and has thereby won the offer of a place in the public system. For example, a pupil of average ability, in Block 7 or 8, may be offered a place in three-year course, or a five-year place in a remote school, and may choose an unassisted place in a private school. The marking and allocation procedures, which are necessarily some- what complex, are carried out almost entirely by computer; less than 1% of the public- sector places have to be dealt with manually. Responsibility for both the examination and the allocation rests with the Director of Education, advised by appropriate committees.
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