EDUCATION
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To help them choose secondary schools most suited to their children's language ability, parents were informed of their children's grouping and the medium of instruction adopted by individual schools. Schools were advised to ensure a good match between their medium of instruction and the language proficiency of students. they admitted. In September, 74 schools used Chinese for all subjects except English language and more schools increased their use of Chinese, either for some Secondary 1 classes or for all classes in some subjects.
To broadenal the existing secondary curriculum, Travel and Tourism was introduced as a new subject at Secondary 4 and 5. A total of 48 schools, including grammar, technical and prevocational schools offered the subject. At the sixth form level, Electronics, a new subject at the advanced supplementary level was being developed.
During the year, a working group was set up to review Hong Kong's prevocational and secondary technical education in response to economic, social and technological changes. The review is expected to be completed in early 1997.
Teaching guidelines and supporting materials are provided to schools for cross- curricular studies in such areas as civic education, moral education, drug education, sex/AIDS education and environmental education. Sex/AIDS education is integrated into various subjects in primary and secondary schools. The aim is to enable students to understand sex as part of overall personal and social well-being, and not as something isolated from other aspects of behaviour. During the year, a working party was set up to review the Guidelines on Sex Education in schools. Moreover, the Curriculum Development Institute has developed a set of Chinese teaching materials on 'Sex and the Mass Media'. The draft guidelines on sex education to cover kindergarten to senior secondary levels will be ready for public consultation in early 1997.
Teaching syllabuses are prepared by the Curriculum Development Council for all subjects offered at the secondary level and the syllabuses are reviewed and revised as necessary to meet the changing needs of society. In 1996, five syllabuses at secondary level were revised. A guide to the Secondary 1 to 5 curriculum was published and distributed to schools to help them develop a curriculum suited to their students' needs and interests. Forty-six subjects are available at junior secondary and forty-two at senior secondary levels.
All sixth form courses last two years. Subjects available include 18 at the advanced. supplementary level and 22 at the advanced level. A guide to sixth form curriculum was published and distributed to schools.
The Curriculum Development Institute offered short courses and seminars to help teachers implement and become familiar with the curricula at both secondary and sixth form levels.
The class library service provides supplementary reading materials to support learning and encourage the habit of leisure reading in secondary school students. All public sector secondary school libraries are staffed by a teacher-librarian. In-service courses and seminars were organised for teachers on managing, developing and promoting the use of class libraries. The 1996 Reading Award Scheme for Primary 5 and 6 attracted 65 000 pupils from 356 schools while the 1996 Reading Award Scheme for Secondary 1 to 5 attracted 37 000 students from 209 schools. The School