XN000022-1979-02-09 — Page 2

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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1979

SCHOOLS TO PLAY MORE IMPORTANT ROLE IN STUDENT

ASSESSMENT

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THE FUTURE TREND OF EXAMINATIONS IS LIKELY TO BE THAT THE MAIN ASSESSMENT OF A STUDENT'S ABILITY WILL PROGRESSIVELY BE MADE MORE AND MORE BY THE SCHOOL AND ONLY MONITORED BY PUBLIC TESTS. SENIOR ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION (PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT), MR. ARTHUR BROWN SAID TODAY.

SPEAKING AT THE LUNCHEON MEETING OF LION'S CLUB (HONG KONG SOUTH) MR. BROWN CITED AS AN EXAMPLE OF THIS TREND THE SECONDARY SCHOOL PLACES ALLOCATION SCHEMË,

THE ADVANTAGE OF THIS SCHEME, HE SAID, WAS THAT A STUDENT'S FUTURE NO LONGER DEPENDED ON HIS PERFORMANCE ON ONE DAY'S TESTING, BUT ON A WHOLE SERIES OF UNPRESSURED TESTING IN SCHOOL.

BUT MR. BROWN CAUTIONED THAT THE PRESSURE FROM PUBLIC EXAMINATION MUST NOT BE TRANSFERRED TO THE SCHOOL EXAMINATION.

+AT THE BEST WITH A REAL UNDERSTANDING BY PARENTS AND BY SCHOOLS THE PRESSURE COULD BE REDUCED TO THE LEVEL WHERE IT ENCOURAGED HARD WORK, BUT HAD NO REAL STRAIN ON THE STUDENTS,+ HE SAID.

THE FIRST FEATURE OF THE ALLOCATION SYSTEM, MR. BROWN SAID, WAS THE ACADEMIC APTITUDE TEST WHICH HAS ACHIEVED A REASONABLE DEGREE OF SUCCESS IN REDUCING EXAMINATION PRESSURE.

+THE TESTS ARE DESIGNED TO TEST WHAT MIGHT BE DESCRIBED AS COMMON SENSE IN THE HANDLING OF WORDS AND NUMBERS, A GOOD PREDICTOR CF FUTURE SUCCESS IN EDUCATION.

+ IN OTHER WORDS, LITTLE PREPARATION IS NEEDED FOR THE TESTS AND SO THE CURRICULUM CAN BE VERY FLEXIBLE AND SUIT THE NEEDS OF THE CHILD, + MR. BROWN SAID.

TURNING TO SCHOOL EXAMINATIONS, MR. BROWN SAID THEY HAVE THREE MAIN OBJECTIVES.

FIRST. THEY SHOULD GUIDE THE TEACHER ON THE SUCCESS OF HIS TEACHING AND BE USED TO FIND THE WEAKNESSES AND STRENGTHS OF THE STUDENTS.

SECOND, THEY SHOULD BE USED TO GIVE THE STUDENTS A TARGET AND ENCOURAGE HARD WORK. FINALLY, THEY COULD BE USED OVER A PERIOD OF TIME TO EVALUATE THE STUDENTS' LIKELY ABILITY TO PROFIT FROM DIFFERENT TYPES OF EDUCATION.

BUT HE ADDED THAT EXAMINATIONS MUST NOT SIMPLY TEST ROTE LEARNING. EXAMINATIONS WHICH GIVE THE STUDENT A CHANCE TO EXPRESS HIS OWN IDEAS, HOWEVER SIMPLE, AND WHICH TRY TO GET A CHILD TO THINK AND REASON FOR HIMSELF ARE EXCELLENT.+

/NOTING THAT