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Implementation of mother tongue teaching
Following is a question by the Hon Eric Li and a written reply by the Secretary for Education and Manpower, Mr Joseph W P Wong, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):
Question:
Since 1986, the Education Department has been providing extra resources to schools which have adopted mother-tongue teaching, in order to promote students' language proficiency. Recently, the Government has further proposed to implement mother-tongue teaching in all Secondary I (S1) classes in secondary schools throughout the territory from September 1998 onward. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
Reply:
(a) the differences in English language proficiency between students of Chinese middle schools and students of Anglo-Chinese secondary schools over the past ten years;
(b)
(c)
the ratios of school-leavers from Chinese middle schools and school- leaver from Anglo-Chinese secondary schools, who were admitted to local universities in the past three years; and
the specific measures in place to ensure that there will be sufficient qualified teachers to teach the relevant subjects upon the implementation of mother-tongue teaching in all S1 classes next year?
(a) & (b)
It is not possible to compare the English language proficiency between students of Chinese middle schools and those of Anglo- Chinese schools over the past ten years. This is because the references to Chinese Middle or Anglo-Chinese in the names of public sector schools were dropped in 1987 as a result of the Government's stated policy to promote mother tongue teaching in 1987. Also, records of English language results kept by the Education Department, the Hong Kong Examinations Authority or the UGC-funded institutions are not categorised into Chinese Middle or Anglo-Chinese schools. We are therefore unable to provide the requested information.