C17
history, shorthand, typewriting etc.) subjects may now be taken either
in English or in Chinese.
23.
With the steady expansion of secondary education the candidature for the HKCE has been growing rapidly and in recent years each successive
In 1980, almost 121,000 candidates participated, year has set another record.
94,000 (78 per cent) being entered by 622 schools.
Of the participating
schools, 51 (8 per cent) entered candidates from both Anglo-Chinese and
Chinese middle streams. As mentioned earlier, few schools are taking full advantage of the language flexibility offered by the examination: this can
· be ascribed to such factors as organisational difficulties within the schools, where a fluid approach could present problems of continuity over the normal five-year span, and the importance attached by many prospective
employers to a wholly English-medium certificate.
24.
་
Like the GCE Ordinary Level examination in the United Kingdom
the HKCE is seen by the community as serving several different purposes ostensibly a test of general education', it is used by employers for selection purposes, it determines entry to sixth-form courses, and it serves as a qualification for entry to a variety of tertiary level courses. The 1977 Working Party on Senior Secondary and Tertiary Education considered that students capable of taking courses at the post-Form V level were those who obtained at least five Grade E passes in the HKCE (then estimated to be about 30 per cent of the relevant age group) and that students capable of taking post-Form VI courses were those obtaining at least three Grade C passes (estimated to be about 13 per cent of the relevant age group). estimates were based on the 1976 HKCE results, with over-age children excluded
The 1978 White Paper subsequently recommended that
from the calculations.
These
the minimum academic standards required for entry to a sixth-form course should be two Grade C and four Grade E passes (alternatively, four Grade C and one Grade E). Appendix N shows the proportions of the Primary 6 population subsequently achieving at least five Grade E passes and three Grade C passes respectively in the HKCE, with figures provided by