EDUCATION
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Form 4 places will be on a territory-wide basis and will take account of parental choice of schools. To monitor this system, an advisory committee was appointed in September by the Director of Education.
In April, the government published a Green Paper on Primary Education and Pre- Primary Services which emphasised quality improvement. In primary education, the Paper proposed the control of entry to Primary One level to eliminate competitive entrance tests; expansion of the activity approach to learning, stressing 'learning by doing'; reduction of class sizes; the re-training of teachers; and the establishment of class libraries. With regard to pre-primary education and child care, the paper proposed a fee assistance scheme for lower-income families with children in day-care centres and kindergartens; a reduction in the length of kindergarten courses from three years to two years, by phasing out 'baby classes'; reduction of the maximum class size from 45 to 30; and the expansion of in-service training for kindergarten teachers. The Green Paper, supported by comments from the public, will serve as a basis for firm proposals to be submitted in a White Paper to the Legislative Council in the 1980-1 session.
Publication of the White Paper on primary education and pre-primary services will mark the completion of the current reviews of the Hong Kong education system. These started in 1974 with the White Paper on Secondary Education Over the Next Decade, and con- tinued in 1978 with the White Paper on Senior Secondary and Tertiary Education. It will now be possible, in 1981, to conduct an overall review of the entire system, to examine the coherence and effectiveness of the education service and to consider the priorities in its long-term development. The proposal for an overall review originated with the Board of Education, a statutory body whose function is to advise the Governor on educational
matters.
Kindergartens
In September, there were 761 kindergartens in Hong Kong providing pre-school education for 197,410 children in the three to five years age group. These private institutions are supervised by officers of the Education Department, who make professional advice freely available to school managers, teachers, parents and members of the public. The government gives assistance by providing reliable bodies with grants of Crown Land, reimbursing non-profit-making groups with payments of rates, allocating premises in public housing estates to suitable sponsoring bodies, and providing in-service teacher training through seminars, exhibitions, and a two-year part-time training course.
Primary Education
Primary education has been free in all government schools and in most aided schools since September, 1971. In the few aided primary schools where fees are charged, fees may be remitted for up to 20 per cent of the total enrolment to meet cases of genuine hardship. To help needy parents further, an annual textbook and stationery grant of $30 a pupil is available to 20 per cent of pupils enrolled in government and aided primary schools. A minority of parents continue to send their children to private primary schools, although places are available for them in the public sector.
In September, the primary school enrolment totalled 540,260 compared with 542,327 the previous year. In addition, 11,831 pupils attended night schools. During the past year, 13,368 primary places were provided in new and developing schools and more are being planned to meet the needs of developing areas, particularly in the new towns of the New Territories.