XN000022-1989-01-25 — Page 22

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 1989

PARTICIPATING AIDED SCHOOLS WILL BE PROVIDED WITH A TEMPORARY ENGLISH LANGUAGE SUBJECT GRANT ΤΟ ENABLE THE EMPLOYMENT TERMS FOR THEIR EXPATRIATE ENGLISH TEACHERS ΤΟ BE MADE SIMILAR то THOSE FOR EXPATRIATE TEACHERS GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS.

IN

DIVEN

MORE

SCHOOLS PARTICIPATING IN THE MODIFIED SCHEME WILL BE FLEXIBILITY TO USE THEIR EXPATRIATE TEACHERS TO TEACH SENIOR FORMS (SECONDARY 3 AND ABOVE) IF THEY WISH. THIS WILL PROVIDE THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT WITH AN OPPORTUNITY TO OBSERVE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF EXPATRIATE TEACHERS IN IMPROVING THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ABILITY OF OLDER STUDENTS.

ANOTHER FEATURE OF THE MODIFIED SCHEME IS THAT THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT'S INSTITUTE OF LANGUAGE IN EDUCATION (ILE) WILL PROVIDE PROFESSIONAL SUPPORT TO HELP NEWLY RECRUITED EXPATRIATE TEACHERS то ADJUST QUICKLY TO THE LOCAL TEACHING SITUATION AND ΤΟ ENSURE THAT IDEAS AND MATERIALS ORIGINATING FROM THE EXPATRIATE TEACHERS ARE FURTHER DEVELOPED AND MADE WIDELY AVAILABLE.

THE EXPERIENCE GAINED FROM THE MODIFIED SCHEME WILL BR A USEFUL COMPLEMENT TO THE PRESENT PILOT SCHEME IN DETERMINING HOW BEST TO IMPLEMENT ANY PERMANENT SCHEME, IF THIS SHOULD BE JUSTIFIED.

IN PARTICULAR, THE MODIFIED SCHEME WILL PROVIDE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT TO ASSESS THE MANAGEMENT OF EXPATRIATE TEACHERS DIRECTLY EMPLOYED BY THEM.

THE SPOKESMAN SAID THE DECISION TO ADOPT A MODIFIED SCHEME WAS MADE AFTER THE GOVERNMENT HAD CAREFULLY CONSIDERED THE FINDINGS OF AN INTERIM EVALUATION OF THE PRESENT PILOT SCHEME, WHICH IN GENERAL INDICATED THAT NO DEFINITE CONCLUSIONS COULD BE DRAWN AT SUCH AN EARLY STAGE.

HE SAID THAT AN ORAL TEST AND A LISTENING TEST HAD REVEALED NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN PERFORMANCE OF SECONDARY 1, 2 AND 3 LEVELS BETWEEN STUDENTS IN THE SCHEME AND THOSE IN CONTROL GROUPS TAUGHT BY LOCAL TEACHERS.

HOWEVER, WHILE A WRITTEN TEST HAD SHOWN NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN PERFORMANCE OF SECONDARY 1 AND 2 STUDENTS, SECONDARY 3 STUDENTS IN THE PILOT SCHEME HAD SHOWN POSITIVE RESULTS OVER THOSR IN THE CONTROL GROUPS.

THE PERCEPTIONS OF SCHOOL PRINCIPALS, PANEL CHAIRMEN AND THE EXPATRIATE TEACHERS THEMSELVES REGARDING THE CONTRIBUTION MADE BY THE EXPATRIATES TO THE GENERAL AIMS OF THE SCHOOLS WERE ALSO INCONCLUSIVE.

WHILE SOME TEACHERS FELT THAT THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS HAD BEEN LIMITED BECAUSE THE METHODS AND EXPECTATION OF THE 9CH0019 WERE DIFFERENT FROM THOSE IN THE EDUCATION SYSTEMS WITH WHICH THEY WERE FAMILIAR, MOST SCHOOLS REPORTED FAVOURABLY ON THE PERFORMANCE

OF THE EXPATRIATE TEACHERS AND FELT THAT THEY HAD CONTRIBUTED POSITIVELY ΤΟ

THE SCHOOLS.

THE SPOKESMAN