14-
'cramming' unnecessary.
At the sixth-form level, the school curriculum
is still determined in most schools by the Higher Level and the Advanced
Level examination syllabuses and regulations and these in turn are still
very much influenced by local university requirements. However, since
these examinations are now controlled by the HKEA, it is probable that
their future development will be undertaken in close co-ordination with
curriculum development in the sixth form, having regard to any reorganisation
of sixth-form courses which might result from the Board of Education's
recent recommendations.
in this work.
7.16
The CDC will of course play an important role
The CDC was formed at a time when the development of syllabuses
for junior secondary forms was an urgent priority in order to support
the coming extension of compulsory education to Form III. At the time
every endeavour was made to provide continuity from the primary
curriculum already in existence, but as work progressed it became evident
that had time permitted it would have been more satisfactory to redevelop
the primary and junior secondary curricula together, in order to provide
a nine-year continuum of basic studies. Now that viable syllabuses have
been implemented in most subjects for Forms I to V, the CDC is addressing
the task of a more co-ordinated approach to the basic nine-year course.
Since it is now government policy to invite unofficials to
chair major advisory committees it would seem appropriate that chairmanship
of the CDC should also pass to an unofficial. It is also thought by some
that the status of the CDC could be enhanced if it were to become a
statutory committee. Others believe that the funds at present available
for curriculum development are seriously inadequate for the tasks that
lie ahead both from the point of view of centrally organised projects
and those initiated by individual schools.
7.17
Audio-visual education
7.18
The Department has for many years made audio-visual equipment