EDUCATION
leading to the Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination (HKALE). The 20 technical schools, which prepare students for the HKCEE with an emphasis on technical and commercial subjects, had an enrolment of 20 515. Qualified candidates can continue their studies in the sixth form or in technical institutes.
The 27 prevocational schools, with an enrolment of 22 758, emphasise practical and technical subjects upon which future vocational training may be based, while providing a good foundation of general knowledge. The curriculum in Secondary 1 to 3 has a technical and practical content of about 40 per cent, but it is reduced to about 30 per cent in Secondary 4 and 5. Students completing Secondary 3 in prevocational schools may enter an approved apprenticeship scheme, or continue in school and take the HKCEE. Qualified students can then proceed to the sixth form, or a course in a technical college or technical institute.
The two practical schools, with a total capacity of 930 places, offer a curriculum with a practical orientation and strong guidance support. They help students develop their interest in and motivation towards studies and prepare them for further studies in vocational training or senior secondary education. The three skills opportunity schools, with a total capacity of 700 places, offer a tailor-made and skills-orientated curriculum to help students who have severe learning problems to acquire basic social and vocational skills.
Secondary 3 leavers are selected for subsidised places in Secondary 4 or basic craft courses, according to internal school assessments and parental preference. The selection process aims to enable as many students as possible to progress to Secondary 4 within the same school. In 1996, 80 470 students took part in the exercise, of whom 67 468 (84 per cent) secured Secondary 4 places in public sector schools, and 4 432 (5.5 per cent) were admitted to basic craft courses. Admission to Secondary 6 depends on results in the HKCEE. In 1996, all 23 887 places available were filled.
To meet provisional targets, 12 new secondary schools were built during the year. Most new schools are built to the standard design introduced in 1990. The first phase of the school improvement programme, which will provide more space for non- teaching activities, covered 104 primary and secondary schools. The second phase, which will include more than 120 primary and secondary schools, has already begun. The staffing ratio in government and aided secondary schools is 1.3 teachers per class in Secondary 1 to 5, and two teachers per class in the sixth form. Additional teachers are supplied to strengthen language teaching; provide remedial teaching, careers guidance, counselling, extra-curricular activities and library services; and to enable split-class teaching of cultural, craft and technical subjects, as well as some sixth form subjects. The ratio of graduate to non-graduate teachers is about 7:3. The student/teacher ratio is about 19.5: 1.
Secondary schools are encouraged to adopt Chinese as the medium of instruction, rather than a mixture of English and Chinese. To support this policy, they were advised to choose the appropriate medium of instruction according to the language proficiency profiles of their Secondary 1 intakes from 1989 to 1995. Primary 6 leavers were grouped into three categories: those able to learn effectively in either Chinese or English (about 33 per cent); those who would learn best through Chinese (about 60 per cent); and those who would learn better through Chinese but would probably also be able to learn in English (about 7 per cent).
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