EDUCATION
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youngsters aged 15 or above, from September 1996 the age for admission to all adult education programmes and courses was lowered from 18 to 15.
Home-School Co-operation
The government encourages home-school co-operation in educating children and young people. The number of Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) is increasing and reached 461 in the 1997-98 school year. PTAs are encouraged to form networks in their own districts. The Committee on Home-School Co-operation, which aims to improve communication between schools and parents, was established in February 1993. Its members include educators, parents, PTA chairpersons and officers of the Education Department. In 1997, it organised a family sports programme, a family sex-education campaign, and promotion activities for parents and PTAs. It also published a PTA manual and launched a campaign calling upon parents to show appreciation for teachers' work.
Extra-curricular Activities
Extra-curricular activities are an integral part of school life. The Education Department provides guidance and advice to teachers, subsidises some activities, and co-ordinates many inter-school programmes and activities. In 1997, these included the Community Youth Club, the Hong Kong Award for Young People, the Lions' Sister Schools Scheme, the Schools Dance Festival, celebrations related to the 1997 Handover Ceremony, the Schools Drama Festival, sports and recreational activities, plus subject- and interest-based activities.
Information Technology in School Education
Computer subjects have been offered to secondary students since the early 1980s. They cover three major areas: computer systems, information processing and programming. They help students develop the necessary information technology (IT) skills required for more advanced studies and for the workplace. The School Administration and Management System (SAMS) was developed in 1994 to support schools in planning, management and administration and to facilitate electronic transmission of information between schools and the ED.
With the rapid development and extensive applications of IT, the government has attached more importance to IT in school education, especially as a teaching and learning tool across the curricula. In 1997, the government introduced new measures to provide 15 multi-media computers for every public sector primary school to support a Computer Awareness Programme and a Computer Assisted Learning Programme, and to set up Information Technology Learning Centres (ITLCs) in prevocational and secondary technical schools to support learning of technical and practical curricula through up-to-date technology. Additional equipment will be provided to schools from the 1998-99 school year. More than 400 secondary schools (or 88 per cent) now have access to the Internet. Primary schools will do the same. Apart from hardware, teacher training has also been provided. In parallel, the department has reviewed curriculum design and school facilities to complement the implementation of IT in education.
To further strengthen IT in primary and secondary education, the Chief Executive's 1997 Policy Address mentioned that a long-term strategy for IT in education would be formulated to promote the use of IT to enhance teaching and learning. The main