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Visual Education Centre
EDUCATION
The Visual Education Centre makes available a wide range of audio-visual aids for use in schools. Its stocks include 16 mm films, filmstrips, slides, audio-cassette tapes, overhead transparencies, learning packages, picture sets and an increasing number of video-tapes. Instructional hardware, such as projection equipment and sound recorders, is also available.
In addition, arrangements were made with Radio Television Hong Kong to have educational programmes recorded on video-cassettee tapes for loan to schools.
In all, 30 introductory courses, workshops and seminars on the use of audio-visual aids and the production of audio-visual materials were held for teachers. Sets of slides and packages of study prints on education were also produced by the centre with the co-operation of other sections in the inspectorate.
To enable teachers to make full use of the facilities in the Media Production Services Unit, plans were underway to develop a video dubbing system and to increase the weekly opening hours of the unit.
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Cultural Crafts Centre
The Cultural Crafts Centre of the Education Department has well-equipped workshops and provides opportunities for teachers from both primary and secondary schools to improve and up-date their teaching skills in art and design, craft and home economics. It organises in-service courses, workshops, seminars and demonstrations and, in 1981, these were attended by some 2 000 teachers. Exhibitions of pupils' work arranged at the centre were very well attended.
The Art Section gave advice and assistance to 50 local organisations and schools in arranging competitions and exhibitions. To mark the International Year of Disabled Persons, an exhibition of art and craft by pupils of special schools was organised. It attracted over 20 000 visitors. In addition, the Art Section also organised the selection of local entries for students' art exhibition and competitions in the United Kingdom, Korea, Finland, India and Japan.
The Home Economics Section arranged 15 in-service courses and five seminars and these were attended by over 420 primary and secondary school teachers. A set of loop-films on how to make Chinese buttons was produced. In the area of curriculum development, the section completed the home economics syllabus for Forms 1-5, in English and Chinese, accompanied by notes for teachers.
Music
In addition to regular in-service courses and workshops, a residential summar school for 100 school music teachers was organised, for the first time, in conjunction with the Hong Kong Arts Centre. The course placed special emphasis on the technique of arranging music for classroom use and included sessions on Dalcroze Eurythmics.
About 54 000 students participated in 266 classes at the 33rd Annual Schools Music Festival, which was judged by four overseas and four local adjudicators. The eight prize-winners' concerts attracted capacity audiences.
Physical Education
The Physical Education Section, which was recently re-organised has four components: School Inspection for the teaching of physical education in primary and secondary schools; School Programme, which looks after swimming, canoeing, life saving, gymnastics,