EDUCATION
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system; to examine the coherence and effectiveness of the service so far provided; and to consider priorities for its long-term development. Accordingly, after close consultation with members of the Secretariat of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Develop- ment (OECD), the government announced, in June, the appointment of an international panel of visitors.
The full panel visited Hong Kong in late October to meet and seek the views held on educational matters by student groups, individuals, parents, academic associations, teach- ers and government officials, and were assisted by two special advisors representing the two main advisory bodies in education in Hong Kong - the University and Polytechnic Grants Committee and the Board of Education. A final review meeting will take place in Hong Kong around March to April, 1982, and the panel's report and account of the final review meeting will be published later on.
The Junior Secondary Education Assessment (JSEA) System, designed to select and allocate subsidised Form 4 places to Form 3-leavers in the aided school sector, was implemented in 1981. The target provision of 55 000 subsidised school places was achieved in September. These places provided for some 58 per cent of the Form 3 leavers.
A total of 426 schools were entered in the 1980–1 JSEA System. These included 62 Chinese middle schools, 356 Anglo-Chinese schools and eight special schools or special classes in normal schools. The total number of candidates was 89 602.
The JSEA Scaling Test, held for the first time in early January, covered the three basic subjects Chinese, English and mathematics. Pupils in prevocational schools were required, however, to take other papers in technical and commercial subjects. Internal assessments of the Form 3 pupils which were submitted twice to the Education Department, in mid-January and in May, were subsequently scaled. The averages of the two internal assessments were used as the basis for selection and allocation. Results of the first JSEA were announced in the last week of July.
In response to the United Nations decision to proclaim 1981 the International Year of Disabled Persons, the Education Department organised a series of commemorative activities. These included six lectures on particular trends in special education, arranged in conjunction with the Department of Extra-mural Studies of the University of Hong Kong during January and February; the promotion of joint functions between ordinary schools and special schools; the 'Join In' exhibition in March to encourage children in special schools to participate in the various youth activities of such organisations as The Red Cross, The Scout Association of Hong Kong and the Community Youth Club; an art and craft exhibition by children in special education, held in July and August; and an athletics meeting involving able-bodied and disabled competitors in November.
A training unit was set up in the Education Department in April to plan and organise courses in educational management for heads and senior staff of schools and departmental officers; to liaise with, and give advice to, local bodies offering courses related to educational management; and to assist divisions within the Education Department in arranging courses and seminars for staff development.
Eight new secondary schools were completed during the year, bringing the total number of schools in the Secondary School Building Programme to 72. A further 58 schools, including 12 prevocational schools, are expected to be completed by 1985.
Kindergartens
In September, there were 729 kindergartens in Hong Kong, providing pre-school education for 200 426 children in the three-to-five years age-group. These private institutions are