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test results combined with scaled internal assessments.
The findings
indicated very little difference between the two methods of selection
and it was therefore decided that the pupils' personal performance in
the scaling test need not be counted in drawing up an order of merit for
the allocation of school places. This decision was taken mainly to
encourage the development of a balanced curriculum in schools.
decision was taken in respect of the Academic Aptitude Test of the SSPA,
and no change was recommended by the Review Committee.
21.
The same
Selection for sixth-form places is based on the Hong Kong
Certificate of Education (HKCE) examination: this is the only point within
the school system at which individual school authorities have complete
discretion in the allocation of places. The three principal public
examinations, which were formerly under the control of separate bodies,
are now administered by the Hong Kong Examinations Authority (HKEA), an
independent statutory body which took over the administration of the HKCE
examination from the Education Department in 1978, the Hong Kong Higher
Level Examination (formerly The Chinese University of Hong Kong Matriculation
Examination) in 1979 and the Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination (replacing
the Advanced Level Examination of the University of Hong Kong) in 1980.
The HKCE and Advanced Level examinations are widely recognised by overseas
The HKEA has also assumed responsibility for conducting a
authorities.
large number of overseas examinations on behalf of various examining
bodies in Britain and elsewhere: there has been a steady increase in the
number of entries for overseas examinations (95,000 in 1977 rising to
167,000 in 1980), the five largest groups of entries being those for the
various examinations of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the
University of London General Certificate of Education, the Pitman Examinations
Institute, and the Royal Schools of Music, and for the Test of English as
a Foreign Language (TOEFL). As explained later, the existence of a dual
sixth-form system, together with the marked local interest in overseas
examinations (particularly GCE examinations), is making the provision of