EDUCATION
the board: the Director of Education as vice-chairman, and the Deputy Secretary for Education and Manpower.
The Curriculum Development Council
The CDC was reconstituted in January 1992, along lines recommended in the Education Commission's fourth report (ECR4). It became a free-standing committee appointed by the Governor to advise the government through the Director of Education on curriculum matters. Its members include not only educators, but also employers and parents.
The CDC continued many of the curriculum development activities undertaken by the former Curriculum Development Committee, and examined new curriculum needs. During the year it continued to consolidate syllabus development, conduct research on curriculum issues, and develop school-based curricula. The development of teaching targets and target-related assessments in the three core subjects progressed well, as did the preparation of new subjects: general studies for primary students; and travel and tourism and science for non-science students at the secondary level. Curriculum guides, which help in devel- oping subject syllabuses in compatible directions, were produced for each educational level and issued to schools. Guidelines on environmental education in schools were also issued.
Curriculum Development Institute
The Curriculum Development Institute (CDI) was set up in April 1992 as a new division within the Education Department. It is responsible for developing curricula, and for helping schools to implement curriculum policies and innovations. It provides a secretariat for the CDC; conducts research, experimentation and evaluation in curriculum planning; issues updated curriculum guides and subject syllabuses; develops resource materials, manages resource centres and provides resource library services; liaises with the HKEA, the Advisory Inspectorate of the Education Department and teacher training institutions on the development and evaluation of the curriculum; and reviews school textbooks.
The CDI is staffed by both civil servants and experts from outside the civil service. This arrangement ensures a regular infusion of new ideas to sustain the creative and innovative approach needed for good curriculum development; and also enables the CDI to draw on the practical experience of its civil service members, including their close links with schools. During the year, over a hundred officers were redeployed from the Inspectorate Division to the CDI, and the first non-civil servant experts were recruited.
The University and Polytechnic Grants Committee
The UPGC, appointed by the Governor, advises on the development and funding of higher education, and administers public grants to the tertiary institutions. Its members, all prominent in their field, include 10 academics from overseas, three local academics and five local professional and business people. No government officer sits on the committee, but its secretariat is staffed by civil servants.
Since 1965, when the then University Grants Committee was created, student numbers have increased more than tenfold, from about 4 000 full-time equivalent in two universities to about 48 000 in seven institutions. These, in order of age as a tertiary institution, are the University of Hong Kong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Polytechnic, Hong Kong Baptist College, City Polytechnic of Hong Kong, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Lingnan College.
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