16 -
In his speech, Dr Tse praised the SAMS project, citing the necessity of providing the latest information in the shortest possible time for school teachers who concurrently shoulder administrative and management duties.
"If teachers can be aided by a computerised system which will speed up administrative procedures and simplify paper-work, they will then be able to concentrate more on their academic work, and spend more time toward the establishment of a good teacher-student relationship," Dr Tse said, adding that the Hong Kong Baptist University is honoured to participate in such a meaningful venture.
The SAMS training centre at the Hong Kong Baptist University accommodates 40 teachers per class. University trainers will provide a total of 4,400 training days over a nine-month period at a cost of about $500,000. Another $1 million is spent on hardware and trunking for the training centre.
The Director of the SAMS Training and Research Unit, Dr Alex Fung, said the Unit would come into operation in July this year to provide basic information technology (IT) courses and SAMS training to principals, teachers, and staff of primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong.
The Unit will also carry out research and development work in the use of IT in education, with an initial focus specially on the territory-wide implementation of SAMS.
The SAMS project, which was launched in the 1994-95 school year, is aimed at relieving clerical work for teachers and boosting efficiency in general administration in school.
While helping schools manage information and data about students, teachers and school finances through 12 major and three supporting applications, the system also provides computer link-up between schools and the Education Department.
Installation work is now in progress in about 300 schools. The system will be extended to some 1,400 primary and secondary schools in the public sector by 1996-
97.
End/Wednesday, May 24, 1995