EDUCATION
are organised to disseminate knowledge of good practices and to facilitate the sharing of experience. Education software is being developed to assist IT-facilitated teaching and learning activities.
Medium of Instruction
The Government's language in education policy is to enable students to be biliterate {to master written Chinese and English) and trilingual (to speak fluent Cantonese, Putonghua and English). In this context, it is recognised world-wide that students. learn better in their mother tongue. Since the 1980s, the Government has been promoting mother-tongue teaching while strengthening support for English language. learning. Chinese is the medium of instruction in the vast majority of primary schools, with English taught as a core subject from Primary 1.
From the 1998-99 school year onwards, Chinese has been adopted as the medium of instruction (except for the subject of English Language) for junior secondary classes, starting with the Secondary 1 intake in the 1998-99 school year and progressing each year to a higher level of secondary education. About 110 secondary schools that satisfied the requirements in terms of student ability, teacher capability and language learning support strategies and programmes were allowed to teach in English.
Heavy emphasis continues to be given to the teaching of English in all schools. Secondary schools teaching in Chinese are provided with additional support: an average of two additional English Language teachers for each school, the choice of an additional native-speaking English teacher, a one-off grant for employing clerical staff and purchasing equipment, and additional recurrent grants for equipment and library books.
Quality Education Fund
Pursuant to a recommendation in the Education Commission Report No. 7, the Quality Education Fund (QEF) was established on January 2, 1998, with an allocation of $5 billion. It provides an efficient channel to finance school-based projects for the promotion of quality school education in Hong Kong. Projects fall mainly within the categories of effective learning, all-round education, school-based management, information technology and education research.
The QEF Steering Committee considers all applications, then
all
makes recommendations to the Trustee (Director of Education Incorporated) on the award of grants and advises on the policies and procedures regarding the operation of the QEF. In all, 7 751 applications were received in the first three calls for applications. Of these, 2 744 were approved, involving grants totalling $1,548 million. The fourth call for applications was announced in October 2000 and more than 3 500 applications were received. At the end of December, the total amount of grants paid was $994 million and the balance of the fund was $6 billion.
The spread of good practices and experience resulting from funded projects across the school sector is also a prime objective of the QEF. The activities organised in 2000 included an exposition, 21 experience-sharing sessions, 42 seminars, and talks and briefing sessions. A QEF Newsletter was issued.
To commend and promote outstanding education practices in Hong Kong schools, the QEF Steering Committee launched the Outstanding School Awards Scheme in
159