XN000022-1979-04-15 — Page 4

SUNDAY, APRIL 15, 1979

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LEARNING ABOUT NATURE IN ITS NATURAL HABITAT

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BIOLOGY AND GEORGRAPHY TEACHERS OF MATRICULATION CLASSES SOON WILL NO LONGER HAVE ANY PROBLEM OF FINDING SITES FOR THE IR PUPILS TO DO FIELD WORK.

+THIS IS BECAUSE THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT HAS ESTABLISHED A FIELD STUDIES CENTRE, THE FIRST OF ITS KIND IN HONG KONG, FOR USE BY SIXTH FORM STUDENTS,+ A SPOKESMAN FOR THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT SAID TODAY (SUNDAY).

MR. YAM HOK-KAI, INSPECTOR (FIELD STUDIES), ADDED THAT THESE STUDENTS WILL BE GIVEN EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO STUDY THE ENVIRONMENT THROUGH INTEGRATED FIELD AND LABORATORY WORK WHEN THE NEW CENTRE, SITUATED AT THE SAI KUNG OUTDOOR RECREATION CENTRE, BECOMES FULLY FUNCTIONAL IN SEPTEMBER.

OVERLOOKING ALMOST THE ENTIRE SAI KUNG PENINSULA, THE TWO-STOREY COMPLEX WILL FEATURE A SPECIMEN EXHIBITION AREA, A REFERENCE LIBRARY, A LECTURE HALL, A PREPARATION ROOM AND A WELL-EQUIPPED LABORATORY. SLEEPING ACCOMMODATION AND MEALS WILL BE PROVIDED AT THE OUTDOOR RECREATION CENTRE.

+THE ENTIRE ARRANGEMENT HAS BEEN GEARED TO PROVIDE EFFICIENT FACILITIES FOR THOSE WHO WILL BE TAKING PART IN THE COURSES,+ MR. YAM STRESSED.

HE ALSO EMPHASISED THAT THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF THE DEPARTMENT IS TO PROVIDE EVERY FORM SIX STUDENT WITH AN OPPORTUNITY TO SPEND A FEW DAYS IN THE CENTRE.

AT PRESENT, MR. YAM SAID, MANY SCHOOLS ARRANGE ONE-DAY FIELD TRIPS FOR THEIR STUDENTS.

+THIS IS QUITE INADEQUATE BECAUSE THEY ARE LIMITED BY TIME DUE TO THE LONG JOURNEYS AND IT IS ALSO QUITE IMPOSSIBLE FOR THEM TO CONDUCT PROMPT FOLLOW-UP INVESTIGATIONS IN THE LABORATORY. SPECIMENS COLLECTED BECOME DETERIORATED AS A RESULT, MR. YAM POINTED OUT.

TO REMEDY THE SITUATION, A WORKING PARTY COMPRISING MEMBERS FROM SEVERAL GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS, INCLUDING THE SCIENCE SUBJECTS SECTION AND THE RECREATION AND SPORT SERVICE OF THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT, AND THE TWO UNIVERSITIES, WAS SET UP IN 1976.

THAT SUMMER, A RESIDENTIAL FIELD STUDIES PILOT PROJECT WAS INTRODUCED.

+MANY OF THE STUDENTS WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE PROJECT WERE FULL OF PRAISES FOR THE COURSE, MR. YAM RECALLED.

MAT THE