WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 19, 1983
+THERE FOLLOWED VARIOUS TEACHING MATERIALS INCLUDING
V PROGRAMMES PRODUCED BY THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT, THE
INDEPENDENT COMMISSION AGAINST CORRUPTION AND INTERESTED RELIGIOUS BODIES.
+OTHER SEMINARS AND EXHIBITIONS WERE MOUNTED, CULMINATING IN A MORAL EDUCATION WEEK' LAST EASTER WHICH WAS ATTENDED BY OVER 3 000 TEACHERS AND 20 000 STUDENTS.
+CONFERENCES CONTINUE, THE MOST RECENT TOUCHING ON THE TOPIC BEING ATTENDED BY OVER 250 HEADS OF SECONDARY SCHOOLS ONE MONTH AGO,+ HE ADDED.
HOWEVER, MR HAYE SAID THE GOVERNMENT HAD TRIED NOT TO BE DOGMATIC BECAUSE IT DID NOT BELIEVE MORAL EDUCATION COULD BE TAUGHT AS A CLASSROOM SUBJECT.
*BUT WE HAVE SUGGESTED POSITIVE ACTION IN THE INCULCATION OF SOCIAL AND MORAL VALUES IN CHILDREN AND IN TAKING EVERY DIRECT AND INDIRECT OPPORTUNITY OFFERED BY A DIVERSE CURRICULUM TO POINT TO THE GOOD, THE VIRTUOUS, THE WORTHY AND THE DESIRABLE IN PERSONAL AND COMMUNITY RELATIONSHIPS, HE SAID.
WHILE STRESSING THE IMPORTANCE OF PARENTS, FAMILIES AND EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES IN THE PROMOTION OF MORAL EDUCATION, MR HAYE SAID THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT HAD TRIED TO UNDERLINE THE ROLE OF TEACHER AND SCHOOL IN SUPPLEMENTING AND COMPLEMENTING THIS VITAL SOCIAL PROCESS.
TO SUSTAIN THIS EFFORT AND TO PROVIDE MORE ADVISORY SERVICES TO SCHOOLS, A RELIGIOUS AND ETHICAL EDUCATION SECTION WAS ESTABLISHED IN THE ADVISORY INSPECTORATE IN MID-1982.
MR HAYE SAID THE LAST TWO YEARS HAD ALSO SEEN GREATER EMPHASIS PLACED ON MORAL EDUCATION IN TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAMMES AND COURSES IN THE COLLEGES OF EDUCATION, AND IN A SERIES OF TRAINING COURSES FOR HEADS OF PRIMARY SCHOOLS WHICH BEGAN IN JULY 1982.
IN ADDITION, THERE HAD BEEN THE WORK OF THE INTER-DEPARTMENTAL STANDING COMMITTEE ON UNRULY AND DELINQUENT BEHAVIOUR IN SCHOOLS SET UP IN SEPTEMBER 1981 UNDER THE CHAIRMANSHIP OF THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION, WHOSE MAIN TASK WAS TO MONITOR BEHAVIOUR IN SCHOOLS AND TO NIP DELINQUENCY IN THE BUD.
MR HAYE ALSO DISCLOSED THAT THERE WOULD BE AN ADDITIONAL TEACHER FOR EACH STANDARD-SIZED SECONDARY SCHOOL IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR FROM NEXT SEPTEMBER FOR THE PROVISION OF GUIDANCE. COUNSELLING AND THE ORGANISATION OF EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES.
HE ADDED, FINALLY, LET IT NOT BE FORGOTTEN THAT UNDERLYING THESE MEASURES THERE ARE THE STANDING PROGRAMMES OF THE SCHOOLS THEMSELVES.
+RELIGIOUS EDUCATION STRONGLY REINFORCES MORAL EDUCATION AND HAS DONE SINCE OUR FIRST SCHOOLS WERE FOUNDED WELL OVER A CENTURY AGO, WHILE TRADITIONAL CHINESE LEARNING HAS ALWAYS FOUND A RESPECTED PLACE FOR THE ETHICAL TEACHING OF THE SAGES, + HE SAID.
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