XN000022-1973-11-28 — Page 18

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Wednesday, November 28, 1973

The Director was sure that these measures would raise the

standards of all secondary schools in the public sector and help to

achieve the improvement of the quality of education in these schools.

Primary Education

Turning to primary education, Mr. Canning noted that the expansion

of educational television, the conversion of selected government primary

schools into unisessional operation and the greater use of experimentation

with teaching projects were steps taken to improve quality in primary

education in the past year.

Emphasis at the primary level, he said, was upon improvements

in quality since free primary education for all who require it was already

an accomplished fact.

"Among the pilot experimental schemes is the integrated teaching

The object

in six government, subsidised and private primary schools.

of the experiment is to attempt to move away from standard classroom teaching

to a more pupil-centred informal approach.

In his view, primary education "is the foundation on which all

other forms of education stand and we cannot be complacent if our system

is to be sufficiently flexible to meet the future needs of our society."

Referring to the Secondary School Entrance Examination, the

Director said the Board of Education stressed the need to minimise its

undesirable effects and to widen the basis for the selective allocation to

secondary schools.

Noting that