EDUCATION
remedial support in the basic subjects, behavioural guidance to children and advice to teachers on how to help children with special needs.
In December, there were 62 special schools including a hospital school, schools for children who were visually-impaired, hearing-impaired, physically handicapped, mentally handicapped or with adjustment problems. Of these, 19 provided residential places. Besides being staffed by specially trained teachers, special schools are supported by specialists such as educational psychologists, speech therapists, audiologists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, school nurses and social workers.
Special schools and special support systems within mainstream schools generally follow the ordinary school curriculum with adaptations and extensions, where appropriate, to cater for varied learning needs. To facilitate school-based curriculum development to target at the specific needs of pupils, the Education Department, as advised by the Curriculum Development Council (CDC), has completed the development of a series of Guides to Curriculum for Children with Special Educational Needs. They include the Guides
include the Guides to Curriculum for Visually Handicapped, Hearing Impaired, Mentally Handicapped, Physically Handicapped and Maladjusted Children. The development of Programmes of Study which are extensions and adaptations of the mainstream curriculum on subjects or learning areas for these children is in progress.
The Fung Hon Chu Gifted Education Centre continues to develop centre-based enrichment programmes for identified gifted students. It also provides training courses and seminars for teachers, school heads, professionals and parents of identified gifted students for promoting their awareness of gifted education services and understanding of these students' educational and emotional needs. The centre also offers training and consultation to 17 primary schools with school-based programmes. Conversion works are under way for the centre's Phase II Development to provide additional facilities and increase its services to the public.
Information Technology in Education
To ensure young people can grow up with the vision and capability to face challenges of the Information Age, the Government in November 1998 issued a five-year strategy on information technology (IT) in education.
Its four key components are: to enhance students' access to IT and Internet, to provide training and support for all teachers, to use IT to support teaching in the school curriculum, and to foster a community-wide culture which helps promote IT in education.
Implementation of various initiatives is making good progress. Site preparation works for half of the schools concerned have been completed. The rest will have their works completed by August 2000. Schools get cash grants to purchase IT equipment. All schools also get grants to enable them to connect to the Internet. More than 15 000 teachers have completed 'basic' IT training. A further 70 000 training places at various levels of competencies will be provided in the coming four years. Schools may enrol teachers in training courses commissioned by the Education Department or arrange their own school-based training using cash grants provided. 120 schools have an IT co-ordinator to develop and roll-out school-based IT plans. Another 130 IT
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