TUESDAY, JUNE 23, 1992
AS A FIRST STEP TOWARDS THAT GOAL, WHICH WILL HELP PRIMARY SCHOOLS ΤΟ MEET THE DEMANDS NOW BEING PLACED ON THEM, THE REPORT RECOMMENDS THAT 35 PER CENT OF PRIMARY TEACHERS SHOULD BE UPGRADED ΤΟ GRADUATE STATUS WITHIN 15 YEARS.
"THIS WILL ALLOW EVERY SENIOR TEACHER POST AND HEADSHIP POST TO
BE FILLED BY A GRADUATE TEACHER," SAID MRS FAN.
"IN ADDITION, IT WILL ALLOW EVERY STANDARD PRIMARY SCHOOL то APPOINT TWO GRADUATE TEACHERS IN THE BASIC RANK.'
MRS FAN POINTED OUT THAT TO ACHIEVE THIS INITIAL GOAL, ABOUT 7,500 PRIMARY TEACHERS WOULD NEED TO ACQUIRE A DEGREE BY THE YEAR 2007.
WE BELIEVE THAT THE NECESSARY DEGREE PLACES FOR SERVING TEACHERS CAN BEST BE PROVIDED ON SELF-FUNDING PART-TIME COURSES, COMBINING DISTANCE LEARNING WITH FACE TO FACE TUITION," SHE SAID.
**SUITABLE COURSES COULD BE DEVELOPED BY ANY LOCAL TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS. WE RECOMMEND THAT THE GOVERNMENT PROVIDE A COURSE DEVELOPMENT GRANT."
TO ENSURE THAT ABLE SCHOOL-LEAVERS CONTINUE TO BE ATTRACTED INTO PRIMARY TEACHING, THE REPORT RECOMMENDS THAT A PROPORTION OF THOSE ACQUIRING A TEACHER'S CERTIFICATE SHOULD BE ABLE TO PROCEED TO A TWO-YEAR PRE-SERVICE DEGREE COURSE.
THESE FULL-TIME COURSES SHOULD BE OFFERED BY EXISTING TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS AT FIRST BUT COULD BE TRANSFERRED TO THE INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION ONCE IT CAN OFFER DEGREES.
ON
THE WORKING ENVIRONMENT IN SCHOOLS, ECR5 RECOMMENDS A WIDE RANGE OF IMPROVEMENT MEASURES.
THESE INCLUDE A SYSTEMATIC INDUCTION PROGRAMME FOR NEW TEACHERS; A NEW COMMITTEE ON HOME-SCHOOL CO-OPERATION TO ENCOURAGE AND HELP SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES ΤΟ WORK TOGETHER MORE POSITIVELY IN PROMOTING THE CHILD'S EDUCATION.
OTHERS INCLUDE MEASURES TO IMPROVE SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT; ADDITIONAL ROOMS IN SCHOOLS FOR NON-TEACHING PURPOSES, INCLUDING A STAFF COMMON ROOM AND A STUDENT ACTIVITY CENTRE ; IMPROVEMENTS TO SUBSTANDARD SCHOOL BUILDINGS; AND IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TEACHER WORKLOAD.
THE REPORT RECOMMENDS THAT THE TEACHER-STUDENT RATIO IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS BE IMPROVED FROM THE PRESENT 1.2 TEACHERS PER CLASS TO 1.3 PER. BISESSIONAL CLASS AND 1.5 TEACHERS PER WHOLE DAY CLASS.
IT ALSO RECOMMENDS THAT STANDARD CLASS SIZES BE REDUCED BY FIVE PLACES IN BOTH PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS, TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE DECLINING SCHOOL-AGE POPULATION.
IN
THE REPORT NOTES THAT, BY THEMSELVES, SMALLER CLASSES AND IMPROVED STAFFING RATIOS DO NOT AUTOMATICALLY LEAD TO IMPROVEMENTS STUDENT PERFORMANCE.
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