MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1981
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REPET. ION IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS PERMITTED BUT NOT ENCOURAGED
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THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT ALLOWS UP TO SIX PER CENT REPETITION IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS BU. STRONGLY BELIEVES THAT REPETITION SHOULD BE DISCOURAGED, MR LI YUET-TING, ACTING SENIOR ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION (PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT) SAID TODAY (MONDAY).
SPEAKING AT THE JOINT GRADUATION CEREMONY OF THE HONG KONG BUDDHIST ASSOCIATION PRIMARY SCHOOLS AND KINDERGARTENS, MR LI SAID THERE WAS A MAJOR PUBLIC MISCONCEPTION THAT THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT DID NOT ALLOW REPETITION IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS AND THAT PROMOTION WAS AUTOMATIC.
+THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT DOES ALLOW REPETITION, HE SAID.
THE PRESENT PERMITTED REPETITION RATE IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS IS SIX PER CENT, AND A PUPIL IS ALLOWED TO REPEAT ONCE DURING PRIMARY ONE TO FIVE, BUT IS NOT ALLOWED TO REPEAT PRIMARY SIX.
+WE DO NOT KNOW, HOWEVER, EXACTLY WHAT THE ACTUAL REPETITION RATE IS, BECAUSE MANY PUPILS CHANGE SCHOOLS BUT REMAIN IN THE SAME CLASS, + MR LI SAID.
THE SECOND MAJOR MISCONCEPTION ABOUT REPETITION IS THAT IT IS THE ANSWER TO ALL PROBLEMS.
+UNNECESSARY REPETITION HAS MANY DISADVANTAGES,+ MR LI SAID.
+IT MAKES THE REPEATER FEEL BORED, IT MAY CREATE AN INFERIORITY COMPLEX ON HIS PART, AND IT MAKES HIM LOSE A WHOLE YEAR EVEN THOUGH HIS PROBLEM MAY BE A RELATIVELY MINOR ONE.+
MANY EDUCATIONISTS BELIEVE THAT REPETITION SHOULD BE RESORTED TO ONLY IN SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES SUCH AS WHEN A CHILD HAS BEEN ILL FOR A GREATER PART OF THE SCHOOL YEAR.
+THUS, WHILE THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT DOES ALLOW UP TO SIX PER CENT REPETITION AT PRESENT, IT STRONGLY BELIEVES THAT REPETITION SHOULD BE DISCOURAGED AND THAT CHILDREN WITH LEARNING DIFFICULTIES SHOULD BE HELPED IN OTHER WAYS, MR LI SAID.
IT IS HOPED THAT SCHOOLS WOULD ADOPT REMEDIAL TEACHING IN THE CASE OF CHILDREN WITH LEARNING DIFFICULTIES, AND THAT WITH AN IMPROVED STAFFING RATIO, TEACHERS WOULD BE ABLE TO GIVE GREATER INDIVIDUAL ATTENTION TO PUPILS WHO WERE WEAK IN CERTAIN SUBJECTS.
MR LI EMPHASISED THAT THE PLAN TO REDUCE REPETITION WAS NOT MOTIVATED BY FINANCIAL CONSIDERATION AS SOME PEOPLE MIGHT THINK.
/AS A