- 17
Wednesday, November 28, 1973
The Director was sure that these measures would raise the
standards of all secondary schools in the public sector and help to
achieve the improvement of the quality of education in these schools.
Primary Education
Turning to primary education, Mr. Canning noted that the expansion
of educational television, the conversion of selected government primary
schools into unisessional operation and the greater use of experimentation
with teaching projects were steps taken to improve quality in primary
education in the past year.
Emphasis at the primary level, he said, was upon improvements
in quality since free primary education for all who require it was already
an accomplished fact.
"Among the pilot experimental schemes is the integrated teaching
The object
in six government, subsidised and private primary schools.
of the experiment is to attempt to move away from standard classroom teaching
to a more pupil-centred informal approach.
In his view, primary education "is the foundation on which all
other forms of education stand and we cannot be complacent if our system
is to be sufficiently flexible to meet the future needs of our society."
Referring to the Secondary School Entrance Examination, the
Director said the Board of Education stressed the need to minimise its
undesirable effects and to widen the basis for the selective allocation to
secondary schools.
Noting that