(c)
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Since 1986, the Education Department or subsequently the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd), has provided a block- release eight-week course for in-service teachers to improve their proficiency in Chinese language and to prepare them for teaching in the Chinese medium. Up to June 1997, more than 1850 secondary school teachers will have attended the course.
In addition, the Education Department has conducted workshops to help in-service teachers teach different subjects in the medium of Chinese. The number of workshops conducted and the number of teachers participated between the 1993/94 and 1996/97 school years are:
Year
1993/94
No. of workshops
No. of participants
341
11,650
1994/95
256
7,841
1995/96
307
10,269
1996/97*
188
6,269
(*Note: Figures up to February 1997)
In the 1997/98 school year, the department intends to provide at least another 300 workshops with a capacity of 11,000.
From the 1994-95 academic year, the HKIEd has introduced pre- service teacher education courses to equip student teachers with the knowledge and skills for teaching effectively in the medium of Chinese in secondary schools. The first cohort of 194 students graduated in June 1996. The projected numbers of graduates from two pre-service teacher education courses in 1997 and 1998
are:
Course Title
Certificate in Secondary Education
June 1997
June 1998
185
188
(Chinese) Course
(Two-year full-time)
Certificate in Secondary Education
68
142
(Chinese) Course
(Three-year full-time)*
Total:
253
330
* Course offered in alternate years