XN000022-1981-04-14 — Page 2

TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 1981

MORE STRESS ON MORAL EDUCATION

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MORAL EDUCATION HAS ALWAYS BEEN TAKEN SERIOUSLY BY CURRICULUM PLANNERS IN THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT AND BY TEACHERS IN SCHOOLS AND THIS CONCERN WILL BE UNDERLINED IN VIEW OF RECENT WIDESPREAD INTEREST IN THE MATTER, MR COLVYN HAYE, DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION, SAID TODAY (TUESDAY).

HE WAS SPEAKING AT THE CLOSING CEREMONY OF A SEMINAR ON MORAL EDUCATION, ATTENDED BY MORE THAN 200 SECONDARY SCHOOL HEADS AT NORTHCOTE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION.

VIEWS EXPRESSED AT THE SEMINAR WOULD BE CAREFULLY CONSIDERED BY THE DEPARTMENT, AND AT THE VERY LEAST, THERE WOULD BE FAR GREATER EMPHASIS ON WHAT WAS BEING DONE TO PROMOTE MORAL EDUCATION

IN SCHOOLS, MR HAYE SAID.

THE PRESENT POSITION OF THE DEPARTMENT IS THAT MORAL EDUCATION SHOULD BE INTEGRATED IN A VARIETY OF SCHOOL SUBJECTS AND ACTIVITIES: MORAL VALUES AND ATTITUDES OUGHT TO BE INCULCATED, NOT EXPLICITLY TAUGHT.

THE 1978 WHITE PAPER IN DEALING WITH MORAL EDUCATION, STATED THAT SCHOOLS SHOULD HELP CHILDREN TO ACQUIRE A LIVELY INTEREST IN THE WORLD AROUND THEM AND THE ABILITY TO THINK FOR THEMSELVES, TO MAKE DECISIONS, TO ACQUIRE A SENSE OF MORAL AND SOCIAL VALUE INCLUDING RESPECT FOR OTHERS AND THEIR VIEWS AND BELIEFS, AND TO ACQUIRE AN APPRECIATION OF THE WORLD'S CULTURAL HERITAGE AND IN PARTICULAR OF THEIR OWN COMMUNITY.

THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT BELIEVED THAT MORAL EDUCATION SHOULD PERMEATE THE WHOLE CURRICULUM AND THAT IT SHOULD NOT BE CONFINED TO A SINGLE SUBJECT OR A FEW SPECIFIC LESSONS, MR HAYE SAID,

CITING EXAMPLES, MR HAYE MENTIONED THE SOCIAL STUDIES SYLLABUS WHICH WAS SPECIFICALLY CONCERNED WITH MORAL ISSUES AND THE MAKING OF GOOD CITIZENS.

BUT THERE WERE ALSO A VARIETY OF OPPORTUNITIES IN THE STUDY OF CHINESE TO INCULCATE TRADITIONAL MORAL CONCEPTS THROUGH THE STUDY OF FAMOUS CHARACTERS AND THEIR WRITINGS, IN HISTORY AND ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS, AND EVEN IN THE SCIENCES WHERE THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANALYTICAL AND OBJECTIVE JUDGMENT MUST ASSIST PHILOSOPHICAL THOUGHT.

+BUT NO MATTER HOW WELL PLANNED A CURRICULUM MAY BE, BOOKS ALONE ARE NOT SUFFICIENT TO PRODUCE RATIONAL, RESPONSIBLE AND SOCIALLY DESIRABLE INDIVIDUALS, MR HAYE WENT ON.

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