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EDUCATION
Certificate of Education examination. Senior level classes of matriculation standard provide practical English for business use.
The Evening School of Higher Chinese Studies offers a three-year general arts diploma course at post-secondary level in Chinese literature, philosophy and sociology. Specialised three-month courses are offered on various aspects of Chinese classics and culture. From October, 1978, short courses on the appreciation of Chinese antiques and art objects were organised.
In providing non-formal education, the 16 Adult Education and Recreation Centres organise a wide variety of cultural, social and recreational activities designed to stimulate individual awareness within the community, to cultivate creative ability and to develop individual talents.
About 23,000 people are enrolled in the formal courses and about 44,000 in the non-formal courses. The Adult Education Section also helps the Royal Hong Kong Police Force, the Prisons Department and the Social Welfare Department organise classes and provides professional expertise in general and practical subjects for the self advancement of police officers, and for the inmates of various prisons, and addiction treatment and rehabilitation centres.
Many voluntary agencies also provide a wide range of courses for adults. The 1978 White Paper on The Development of Senior Secondary and Tertiary Education proposed that the main thrust of the government's policy for developing retrieval adult education courses should be directed at assisting voluntary organisations to complement and supplement the Education Department's own courses. Suitable courses for subvention under these arrangements have been suggested.
Examinations
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The Hong Kong Examinations Authority took over the responsibility for conducting the Hong Kong Certificate of Education examination for the first time in 1978. The authority will administer the Hong Kong higher level examination replacing the matriculation examination of the Chinese University of Hong Kong from 1979, and the Hong Kong advanced level examination replacing the advanced level examina- tion of the University of Hong Kong from 1980.
The authority has also assumed the responsibility for conducting a great number of overseas' examinations on behalf of various examining bodies in Britain and else- where. These examinations include the General Certificate of Education, the test of English as a foreign language and many others that enable students to acquire academic and professional qualifications. Appendix 21 lists the more important examinations held in Hong Kong in the past three years and the number of candidates who sat them.
Advisory Inspectorate
The main function of the Education Department's Advisory Inspectorate is to promote quality in the classroom. This involves frequent visits to schools by subject inspectors, the development of advisory services and facilities, and the provision of courses, seminars and workshops for practising teachers. The inspectorate also evaluates textbooks and instructional materials, and carries out educational research and guidance and curriculum development. Close liaison is maintained with other