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EDUCATION
secondary schools and for aided places in private secondary schools. It is conducted by the Education Department and an examination committee is appointed to advise the Director on general policy. All primary schools are invited to participate. Entrance from each school is limited to 60 per cent of its primary six pupils, but this percentage may be increased up to 100 per cent where justified by previous examination results. Scholarships for a full secondary school course are awarded on the results of the examination.
The Hong Kong English School Certificate Examination is con- ducted by a syndicate of representatives of participating schools and the Education Department. The report on this examination by Mr A. V. Hardy, Deputy Secretary of the Cambridge Examina- tion Syndicate, has been studied by a working party appointed by the syndicate. The new regulations recommended by the working party have been approved by the syndicate and will come into force in the 1965 examination. The new syllabuses, modified to incorporate suggestions made in the report, will be made available to schools as soon as they have been approved by the syndicate. Candidates enter the examination at the end of a five-year course in Anglo-Chinese schools. Entry is restricted to school candidates. The examination is intended to test general scholastic attainment and a pass is awarded on satisfactory performance in the com- pulsory subject of English and in certain groups of subjects. For the 1965 and subsequent examinations, the syndicate has announced the aim of making the pass with credit level in indi- vidual subjects equivalent to ordinary level standards in the general certificate of education examination. The number of candidates increases rapidly year by year as the certificate is the qualification for proceeding to higher examinations, for admission to teacher- training colleges and for certain types of local employment.
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The Hong Kong Chinese School Certificate Examination is con- ducted by a similar syndicate. At present candidates enter after completing a six-year course in a Chinese middle school, but, in and after 1965, admission to this examination will be after com- pletion of the new five-year Chinese middle schools course. Only school candidates may enter and the pass requirements compare with those of the English school certificate with the exception that Chinese is the compulsory subject. The number of candidates