Education | 159
The non-official members are mainly school heads, frontline teachers, teacher educators and parents.
Early Childhood Education
The Government has been enhancing the teacher-pupil ratio in kindergartens since September 2001. The improved teacher-pupil ratio of 1:15 has been adopted for all kindergarten classes for children aged three to six since September 2004.
Parallel measures have been introduced to improve the qualifications of kindergarten teachers. All new teachers have been required to possess a Qualified Kindergarten Teacher qualification since the start of the 2003-04 school year and, since 2004-05, all kindergartens have been required to employ only Qualified Kindergarten Teachers on their teaching staff, calculated on the teacher-pupil ratio of 1:15.
Since the integration of pre-primary services on September 1, 2005, all child care centres providing services for children aged from birth to six and two to six before that date have been registered as schools and operated as kindergarten-cum-child
care centres.
Quality assurance inspections have been conducted since September 2000. Kindergartens and child care centres are also encouraged to conduct school self- evaluation by using the common indicators developed for this purpose to promote a culture that values quality in the pre-primary sector.
School Education
Free and universal basic education is provided for children aged six to 15 six years of primary education plus three years of basic secondary education. Admission to Primary 1 in aided and government schools is through a centralised system, and at the end of Primary 6 all students are provided with secondary school places.
Most secondary schools offer three-year basic and two-year senior secondary courses leading to the HKCEE and a two-year, sixth-form matriculation course leading to the Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination. All Secondary 3 students who are willing and able to continue with their studies are given the opportunity to receive subsidised Secondary 4 education or vocational training. About one-third of Secondary 5 leavers may further their studies in subsidised Secondary 6 and 7 school places.
In September 2005, 373 700 children were enrolled in government and aided primary schools and 414 300 children in government and aided secondary schools. Government and aided school places made up about 90 per cent of school places. In 1999, the Government introduced various measures to facilitate the development of Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) schools and non-profit-making private independent schools to inject more diversity into the school system and give parents a wider choice. These measures include allocating government-built school premises to DSS schools, and allocating land at a nominal premium with a capital grant for the construction of DSS and non-profit-making private independent schools. In September 2005, there were 59 DSS schools, offering about 5 per cent of the local school places.