SATURDAY, MAY 12, 1979
NEW BIOLOGY SYLLABUSES FOR SENIOR SECONDARY FORMS
*****
NEW BIOLOGY SYLLABUSES HAVE EITHER BEEN PREPARED OR PROPOSED FOR SENIOR SECONDARY FORMS TO COMPLEMENT THE ADOPTION OF INTEGRATED SCIENCE IN JUNIOR SECONDARY CLASSES, MRS. LOUISE MOK, DEPUTY CHIEF INSPECTOR OF SCHOOLS SAID TODAY (SATURDAY).
SHE WAS SPEAKING AT THE OPENING CEREMONY OF A SEMINAR ON THE BIOLOGY SYLLABUSES FOR HIGHER AND ADVANCED LEVELS HELD AT THE GRANTHAM COLLEGE OF EDUCATION.
IN RECENT YEARS MANY JUNIOR SECONDARY CLASSES HAD CHANGED FROM TRADITIONAL GENERAL SCIENCE TO A MODERN INTEGRATED SCIENCE SYLLABUS INCORPORATING CHEMISTRY, PHYSICS AND BIOLOGY.
TWENTY-SIX SCHOOLS PARTICIPATED IN THE PILOT SCHEME OF THE INTEGRATED SCIENCE SYLLABUS WHEN IT WAS LAUNCHED IN 1973-74, AND IN THE CURRENT ACADEMIC YEAR THE NUMBER HAS RISEN TO 257 SCHOOLS.
+THIS REPRESENTS AN ENORMOUS INCREASE, ALMOST TEN-FOLD, IN A SHORT PERIOD OF ABOUT FIVE YEARS,+ MRS. MOK POINTED OUT.
ACCORDINGLY, A NEW BIOLOGY SYLLABUS HAS BEEN PREPARED FOR FORMS FOUR AND FIVE.
ALSO, THE CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG, IN CO-OPERATION WITH SCIENCE INSPECTORS OF THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT, PRODUCED A NEW HIGHER LEVEL BIOLOGY SYLLABUS FOR 1979 AND A NEW BIOLOGY SYLLABUS AT ADVANCED LEVEL IS PROPOSED FOR THE 1982 EXAMINATION.
ALL THESE SYLLABUSES ADVOCATE THE SCIENTIFIC AND DISCOVERY APPROACHES MEANT TO DEVELOP IN STUDENTS A GREATER AWARENESS AND APPRECIATION OF THE USES OF SCIENCE IN THE MODERN WORLD, MRS. MOK SAID.
+STUDENTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO CONDUCT EXPERIMENTS, TO BE OBSERVANT AND TO BE READY TO FACE THE CHALLENGE OF PRESENT DAY ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION AND RESOURCE DEPLETION.
+MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL, THEY ARE ENCOURAGED TO FIND PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS TO OUR DAILY PROBLEMS, SHE ADDED.
ON THE CONTRIBUTION OF TEACHERS TOWARDS THE SYLLABUS MRS. MOK SAID THAT IN HONG KONG, SCHOOL TEACHERS PLAY A VITAL PART IN DESIGNING SCIENCE SYLLABUSES BY SITTING ON VARIOUS CONCERNED COMMITTEES.
+BIOLOGY TEACHERS ARE PARTICULARLY ACTIVE IN HELPING WITH THE DRAFTING OF SYLLABUSES. THE PRODUCTION OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS, AND THE ORGANISATION OF IN-SERVICE COURSES, SEMINARS AND FIELD TRIPS, SHE SAID.
MRS. MOK ASKED PARTICIPANTS AT THE SEMINAR TO MAKE COMMENTS ON THE HIGHER AND ADVANCED LEVELS BIOLOGY SYLLABUSES.
+I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT THE EXAMINATIONS AUTHORITY AND THE BIOLOGY INSPECTORS WILL FORWARD THE IR COMMENTS TO THE RELEVANT SUBJECT COMMITTEES FOR CONSIDERATION. +
12