XN000022-1978-04-29 — Page 5

SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 1978

TEACHERS' SEMINAR ON NEW CHEMISTRY SYLLABUS

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THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION, MR. ARTHUR BROWN, TODAY COMPLIMENTED TEACHERS ON THEIR WILLINGNESS TO ADOPT THE NEW CHEMISTRY SYLLABUS.

MR. BROWN WHO IS ALSO THE CHIEF INSPECTOR OF SCHOOLS WAS SPEAKING AT THE OPENING OF A SEMINAR AT THE DIOCESAN BOYS' SCHOOL FOR TEACHERS ADOPTING THE NEW FORM 4-5 CURRICULUM IN CHEMISTRY.

HE SAID: +IT WAS ALWAYS HARD GOING CHANGING TO A NEW CURRICULUM ESPECIALLY WHEN IT WAS AT THE FORM 4-5 LEVEL AND AN EXAMINATION SUBJECT. TEACHERS GOT USED TO AN EXAMINATION AND IT TOOK AN ACT OF FAITH AND COURAGE TO ABANDON THE KNOWN AND ENTER A NEW FIELD WITH A NEW EXAMINATION.+

THE NEW SYLLABUS WAS DESIGNED FOR CLASSES WHICH HAD BEEN FOLLOWING THE NOW POPULAR INTEGRATED SCIENCE SYLLABUS AT FORMS 1-3. ALTHOUGH THESE SCHOOLS COULD STILL PREPARE FOR THE STANDARD CHEMISTRY EXAMINATION, IT WAS FELT THAT THE NEW SYLLABUS GAVE MORE OPPORTUNITY FOR FOLLOWING THE ENQUIRY APPROACH THAN THE FORMER SYLLABUS AND THE CURRICULUM INCORPORATED GUIDES DESIGNED TO ENCOURAGE THAT APPROACH.

WITH REGARD TO INTEGRATED SCIENCE IN THE LOWER FORMS, MR. BROWN SAID HE WAS MOST ENCOURAGED BY THE SPREAD OF THIS SUBJECT WHICH SEEMED MORE MEANINGFUL THAN THE OLD GENERAL SCIENCE OR THE THREE SEPARATE SUBJECTS OF PHYSICS, CHEMISTRY AND BIOLOGY.

HE SAID OVER 200 SCHOOLS ARE FOLLOWING THIS CURRICULUM

IN THEIR LOWER FORMS.

+PERHAPS, HE SAID, THE VALUE OF THIS NEW FORM 4-5 CURRICULUM SHOULD BE JUDGED BY THE TIME IT WILL TAKE FOR 200 SCHOOLS TO FOLLOW IT.+

AT PRESENT 14 OF THE ORIGINAL 20 PILOT SCHOOLS FOR INTEGRATED SCIENCE ARE TAKING THE ALTERNATE CHEMISTRY SYLLABUS BASED ON THE NEW CHEMISTRY CURRICULUM.

MR. BROWN ALSO POINTED OUT THAT THE NEW SYLLABUS ALLOWS STUDENTS TO EXPERIMENT FREQUENTLY IN THE LABORATORY, TC CESERVE AND RECORD RESULT, TO HANDLE APPARATUS AND MATERIALS AND TO COMMUNICATE WITH OTHERS USING THE BASIC CHEMISTRY LANGUAGE.

THE SEMINAR WAS DESIGNED TO GIVE TEACHERS A CHANCE TO COME TOGETHER TO DISCUSS THEIR COMMON PROBLEMS AND EXCHANGE THE IR VIEWS ON TEACHING APPROACHES IN CONNECTION WITH THE NEW SYLLABUS.

IN ADDITION TO TALKS AND DISCUSSIONS AT THE SEMINAR, AN EXHIBITION ON PRACTICAL WORK AND A BOOK EXHIBITION WERE HELD TODAY.

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