EDUCATION
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new or revised syllabuses were organised for kindergarten, primary and secondary teachers and heads. Material was published for distribution to schools to keep teachers abreast of developments in various subject areas.
Following recommendations in the 1978 White Paper on the Development of Senior Secondary and Tertiary Education to broaden the curriculum, two new subjects, computer studies and human biology, were introduced in 1982 at senior secondary level at 30 schools and 20 schools respectively. The inspectorate also launched new curriculum development projects, encouraging a large number of teachers from kindergartens, primary and secondary schools to produce their own teaching materials for specific subject areas.
Recommendations in the 1981 White Paper on Primary Education and Pre-Primary Services encouraged more schools to pursue the activity approach a less formal and more child-centred approach to teaching in primary schools. Special courses, seminars, workshops and visits were organised during the year for heads and teachers implementing this approach.
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The Textbooks Committee continued to give positive guidance to schools on the selection of books while a comprehensive list of recommended textbooks for kindergartens, primary and secondary schools was issued quarterly. In an effort to improve the quality of textbooks, the committee maintains close links with publishers of educational material.
Teaching Centres
The Advisory Inspectorate runs six centres concerned with the teaching of Chinese, English, field studies, science, mathematics and social subjects.
During the year, the Chinese Language Teaching Centre conducted 41 refresher courses and workshops, and 12 seminars, which were attended by over 1 700 teachers. The teaching resources units of its Kowloon and Hong Kong centres were open to teachers of primary and secondary schools on specified days of the week. In addition the units accommodated prearranged group visits from schools. In July, about 800 primary school teachers visited a three-day display of primary pupils' work, and materials contributed by 13 participating schools, used in the Chinese supplementary reading scheme, held in the centre. Both primary and secondary schools benefited from the centre's free dubbing service; over 1 000 recordings of teaching tapes were made during the year.
The English Language Teaching Centre organised 50 intensive courses, workshops, seminars, and guest talks for 2 262 teachers during 1982. Follow-up visits were made to selected teacher participants. The centre also provided schools with a free dubbing service for teaching tapes. About 6 000 language-teaching tapes were issued to 377 schools. The centre has a specialist library of about 5 550 books on English language teaching and linguistics, and a display room for exhibiting modern English teaching aids.
The Field Studies Centre in Sai Kung continued to function as an educational and resource centre for ecological and geographical studies by secondary school teachers and sixth form students. During the year, 29 residential ecology or geography courses of four days' duration were arranged for 1 139 sixth formers from 59 secondary schools. The course programme was predominantly academic but recreational activities were often included. A special residential course was organised for 40 social studies teachers attending Northcote College of Education; two courses on stream pollution for geography teachers and an orientation course for biology teachers were organised to familiarise them with techniques in field studies and the Sai Kung environment; a two-day residen- tial course was held for 45 biology teachers; a student conservation leaders' training camp was organised in conjunction with the Agriculture and Fisheries Department;
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