XN000022-1982-01-14 — Page 5

THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 1982

MORE REMEDIAL TEACHERS FOR SCHOOLS

***

UP TO FIVE MORE TEACHERS PER STANDARD-SIZED SECONDARY SCHOOL HAD BEEN APPROVED BY THE GOVERNMENT, MR COLVYN HAYE, DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION, ANNOUNCED TODAY (THURSDAY) AT THE SPEECH DAY OF ST PAUL'S CO-EDUCATIONAL COLLEGE.

LAST YEAR, GOVERNMENT HAD ACCEPTED THAT TWO ADDITIONAL TEACHERS WERE REQUIRED FOR REMEDIAL TEACHING IN ENGLISH AND CHINESE AS PART OF THE LANGUAGE PACKAGE. IT HAS NOW ACCEPTED A FURTHER COMMITMENT TO REMEDIAL WORK IN OTHER AREAS, COUNSELLING AND GUIDANCE (INCLUDING CAREER ADVICE), AND COMMUNITY SERVICES AND EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES WHICH COMPLEMENT AND REINFORCE THE FORMAL CURRICULUM,

AS FROM SEPTEMBER THIS YEAR, TWO GRADUATE TEACHERS MAY BE EMPLOYED FOR LANGUAGE WORK, ONE MORE GRADUATE CAN BE RECRUITED FOR SEPTEMBER, 1983 TO IMPROVE OTHER SERVICES AND TWO ADDITIONAL NON-GRADUATES AS SOON AS SUFFICIENT NON- GRADUATE TEACHERS HAVE BEEN TRAINED BY THE COLLEGES OF EDUCATION.+

PRIMARY SCHOOLS, OF COURSE, WILL BE STAFFED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE IMPROVED TEACHER-TO-CLASS RATIO OF 1.2 : 1 ANNOUNCED WITH THE WHITE PAPER ON PRIMARY EDUCATION AND PRE-PRIMARY SERVICES IN JULY 1981. ADDITIONAL TEACHERS RECRUITED FROM SEPTEMBER 1982 WILL BE EXPECTED TO UNDERTAKE REMEDIAL TEACHING TO IMPROVE STANDARDS IN PRIMARY EDUCATION.

THE PHASED INTRODUCTION OF ADDITIONAL STAFF, MR HAYE SAID, DEMONSTRATED GOVERNMENT'S ACCEPTANCE THAT TEACHERS RESPONSIBILITIES AND RANGE OF DUTIES HAD SO INCREASED DUE TO A NUMBER OF FACTORS, INCLUDING THE EXPANSION OF FREE AND COMPULSORY EDUCATION UP TO FORM THREE, THE INCREASING PRESSURES PLACED ON STUDENTS BY A CHANGING SOCIETY AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF MORE COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT.

+THE ADDITIONAL TEACHERS WILL NOT CHANGE THE CURRENT RATIO OF GRADUATES TO NON-GRADUATES IN OUR SECONDARY SCHOOLS, AND THE USE OF THE TEACHERS WILL BE MONITORED.

I SHOULD ADD THAT SCHOOLS WILL BE FREE TO DEPLOY THE IR STAFF AS THEY SEE FIT, SO LONG AS FUNCTIONS ARE COVERED,+ MR HAYE SAID.

A CIRCULAR WOULD SHORTLY BE ISSUED TO ALL SCHOOLS DESCRIBING THESE VERY SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN STAFF AS WELL AS SEPARATE GUIDELINES ON REMEDIAL TEACHING, HE SAID.

MR HAYE PAID TRIBUTE TO THE COLLEGE AND OTHER FAMOUS INSTITUTIONS WHICH HAD THROWN OPEN THE IR DOORS TO MORE AND MORE CHILDREN FROM HUMBLE HOMES WITH THE ADVENT OF FREE, UNIVERSAL AND COMPULSORY JUNIOR SECONDARY EDUCATION, THOUGH HE ADMITTED THIS HAD BROUGHT WITH IT SOME PROBLEMS.

/KR HAYE