EDUCATION
All teaching posts in primary schools are in non-graduate ranks. The standard staffing ratio allows for remedial teaching to help slow-learning pupils, and additional teachers are provided where schools need to operate resource classes for pupils requiring special educational help. Staffing ratios are currently being improved. For whole-day classes, a ratio of 1.4 teachers per class was introduced in 1992. For bi-sessional classes, a phased improvement to 1.3 teachers per class began to be implemented in 1993.
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 primary school curriculum aims to provide a broad, balanced and general education, appropriate to the age group and the local environment. A core curriculum including Chinese, English, mathematics, social studies, science, health education, music, physical education, and arts and craft is followed by all primary schools, but other learning programmes may be offered on a cross-curricular basis or as separate, optional, subjects. A new core subject - general studies is being planned, to integrate social studies, health education and primary science. 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.
During the year, an advisory committee on implementation of the Target Oriented Curriculum (TOC) — comprising school principals, teachers, parents, teacher educators and Education Department officials -was set up to advise the Director of Education. Schools began trying out the TOC in some classes on a voluntary basis, with guidance and support from the department. This helped schools to identify operational problems and prepare for full-scale implementation of the TOC.
The class library scheme provides supplementary reading materials to support classroom learning, encourages the habit of leisure reading, and paves the way for effective use of the library in secondary schools. The annual reading award scheme for Primary 5 and Primary 6 pupils attracted 52 000 pupils from 244 primary schools. A booklet containing the winning book reports was issued to all schools.
At the end of the primary course, students are allocated places in government or aided secondary schools, or offered bought places in private schools. The Secondary School Places Allocation system is based on internal school assessments scaled by a centrally-administered academic aptitude test, and on parental choice. For allocation purposes, the territory is divided into 19 school regions. In the 1993 allocation, 86 069 primary pupils took part. Of these, 75 385 (87.58 per cent) were allocated places in government and aided grammar secondary schools, 4 800 (5.58 per cent) in prevocational schools, and 5 884 (6.84 per cent) in private schools in the Bought Place Scheme.
Secondary Schools
In 1978, universal free education was extended to junior secondary classes. The policy for public sector provision after Secondary 3 is broadly to meet the demand for places on senior secondary or vocational courses. In 1993, the number of subsidised Secondary 4 places was equivalent to 85 per cent of the 15-year-old population, with places for a further 10 per cent on full-time craft courses of vocational training. The target for the sixth form is to provide one public sector Secondary 6 place for every three public sector Secondary 4 places two years earlier.
139