1
13
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}
by the Education Department meet the problem?
8.21
Are the educational choices available to pupils appropriate
to the stage of development which they have reached when exercising
choice - in particular, is the government right to develop prevocational
education and is it reasonable for parents to commit their children to
this form of education at the age of twelve?
8.22
Given the disjointed appearance of the various sectors of
education and the various hurdles that children face when moving from
one sector to another what, beyond existing and proposed policies, can
be done to ensure smoother progress through the system, and to reduce
competition to the level where it stimulates achievement rather than
generating anxiety? Could any additional measures be introduced within
the existing system to reduce the discontinuity which pupils face at
the various transitional points?
Role of teachers
8.23
The Education Department's recent moves to strengthen the
links between school management and teachers appear to be encouraging
harmonious and efficient working relationships within schools and
promoting a more responsive situation to problems as they emerge rather
than when attitudes have hardened. It is too early, however, to assess
the long-term effects or to determine whether they provide fully
adequate consultative arrangements within schools and between the schools
and the Department. Questions which arise include whether employment
practices within schools are generally satisfactory, whether teachers
have an adequate voice in the management of schools and whether they
have sufficient opportunities to influence the managerial practices of
the school system as a whole.
8.24
On the professional front, are teachers generally given
enough freedom within schools (consistent with overall discipline and