EDUCATION
To address concerns of kindergartens and parents on the transition from kindergarten to primary school, the department is conducting research on the continuity of curriculum and teaching practice at different levels of education.
Primary Schools
Primary schooling, beginning at the age of six and lasting six years, has been provided free in all government schools and in nearly all aided schools since 1971. Although enough places are available in the public sector, about 10 per cent of parents prefer to send their children to private primary schools. Admission to Primary 1 in the public sector is processed through a central allocation system, administered by the department. This has helped to eliminate pressure on children caused by intense competition for entry to popular schools.
In September 1991, 515 938 children were enrolled in 662 primary schools. Eight new school buildings were completed during the year to provide for the growing population in the new towns.
Most primary school buildings accommodate two half-day sessions, a system adopted in the 1950s to meet demand from an increasing school population in a situation of severe space constraints. During the year the Education Commission, in the light of public views on its Report No. 4, recommended that whole-day schooling should be phased in as resources permit. Because a large number of new school buildings will be needed, it is likely to take many years to implement the recommendation in full.
The primary curriculum aims to provide a broad, balanced and general education appropriate to the age group and the local environment. While the core curriculum (Chinese, English, mathematics, social studies, science, health education, music, physical education and art and craft) is followed by all primary schools, other learning programmes may be offered on a cross-curricular basis or as separate optional subjects. A syllabus for each core subject is prepared by the Curriculum Development Council, and is regularly revised and updated to meet changing educational and community needs. Awareness of the benefits of the activity approach, a more child-centered teaching method, is growing, and it is now used in 261 schools.
A standard primary school consists of 24 classrooms and two special rooms. A new design was introduced in 1990 to provide more accommodation needed as a result of various changes in education policy. This provides 30 classrooms, four special rooms and three remedial teaching rooms, accommodating 60 classes in two half-day sessions. It can be converted into a secondary school, if necessary, by adding a special room block. The standard class size is 40 pupils where conventional teaching methods are used, and 35 for activity approach classes.
All teaching posts in primary schools are in non-graduate ranks. The pupil:teacher ratio is about 27:1, and the staffing ratio is 1.2 teachers per class. This allows for remedial teaching to help slow-learning pupils. Additional teachers may be provided so the school can operate revised resource classes for pupils in need of special educational help.
Chinese is the language of instruction in most primary schools, with English taught as a second language. In many schools Putonghua is taught as either a timetabled subject or an after-school activity. A few schools use English as the language of instruction. The Education Commission in its Report No. 4 proposed enhancing English language activities in Primary 5 and 6, by measures such as educational television programmes and the
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