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SUNDAY,
"THE TEXTBOOKS YOU FIND IN BOOKSHOPS ARE ONLY CATERED FOR ORDINARY STUDENTS, THEIR CONTENTS ARE NOT THAT RELATED TO THE LIFE OF THE INMATES WHO ARE COMPARATIVELY OLDER AND HAVE MORE EXPERIENCE IN LIFE, MR PANG SAID.
"
THE DEPARTMENT DECIDED IN 1986 TO PRODUCE ITS OWN TEXTBOOKS WITH CONTENTS RELEVANT TO THE PRACTICAL LIFE.
MR PANG BELIEVED THE INMATES WOULD FIND THESE TEXTBOOKS MORE INTERESTING AND STIMULATING THAN THE OTHER ORDINARY TEXTBOOKS.
"THE INMATES WERE ACTUALLY INVOLVED IN THE PRODUCTION OF THESE BOOKS SUCH AS TYPESETTING AND PRINTING AND THE WORK GIVES THEM A SENSE OF ACHIEVEMENT," HE SAID.
MR PANG ALSO SAID A SURVEY BY THE DEPARTMENT HAD REVEALED THAT THERE HAD BEEN AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE LEARNING ATTITUDE AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCES OF THE INMATES SINCE THE INTRODUCTION OF THE CSD TEXTBOOKS.
ON FUTURE PRODUCTION PLANS, HE SAID THE DEPARTMENT HAD SET UP CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT TEAM IN MAY FOR THE PRODUCTION OF OTHER TEACHING MATERIALS AND UPDATING THE CURRENT TEXTBOOKS.
THE TEAM HAD RECENTLY STARTED PRODUCING A SET OF BASIC ENGLISH AND MATHEMATICS TEXTBOOKS FOR THE INMATES WHO WERE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FROM CHINA AND THESE BOOKS WOULD BE PRINTED IN SIMPLIFIED CHINESE CHARACTERS FOR EASY READING, HE ADDED.
A CSD SENIOR MASTER RESPONSIBLE FOR COORDINATING THE PRODUCTION OF THE TEXTBOOKS, MR CHEUNG KAI-KWONG, DESCRIBED THE PROJECT AS
"INNOVATIVE".
**
MR CHEUNG SAID ONE PROMINENT FEATURE OF THE TEXTBOOKS WAS THAT THEY WERE BASED ON "ACADEMIC MONTHS", RATHER THAN ACADEMIC YEARS" AS ADOPTED BY ORDINARY TEXTBOOKS.
"THE PURPOSE IS TO SUIT THE VARYING EDUCATION LEVELS AND PRISON TERMS OF THE INMATES," HE EXPLAINED.
THE TEXTBOOKS ARE TO SERVE SIX DIFFERENT EDUCATION LEVELS. AN INMATE STUDYING FOR A PARTICULAR LEVEL WOULD NEED TO FINISH SIX BOOKS, ONE IN EVERY MONTH,
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THAT IS TO SAY, AN INMATE MAY NEED UP TO THREE YEARS TO COMPLETE TEXTBOOKS OF A PARTICULAR SUBJECT AND REACH FORM 3 STANDARD IF НЕ /SHE STARTED FROM THE LOWEST LEVEL OF PRIMARY 3.
MR CHEUNG SAID IT TOOK THEM THREE YEARS TO PRODUCE THE TEXTBOOKS.
"WE HAVE A VERY TIGHT SCHEDULE TO MEET. WE HAVE TO PRODUCE ONE BOOK EACH FOR THE THREE SUBJECTS A MONTH, HE SAID.
I
AT ONE POINT, HE SAID, HE HIMSELF HAD CONSIDERED GIVING UP BECAUSE OF THE ENORMOUS WORK PRESSURE.
/"BUT MY