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SCHOOLS DRAMA FESTIVAL TO BE LAUNCHED IN 1991-92

THE

CALENDAR,

ANOTHER FESTIVAL WILL BE ADDED TO THE 1991-92 SCHOOL DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION, MR LI YUET-TING, ANNOUNCED TODAY

(THURSDAY).

ENTHUSIASTIC RESPONSE BY YOUNG THESPIANS, TEACHERS AND SCHOOLS TO THE 1989 SCHOOLS ENGLISH DRAMA PROJECT AND THIS YEAR'S ENGLISH AND CHINESE PROJECTS HAS MADE IT POSSIBLE FOR WORK TO BEGIN IN ORGANISING THE FIRST SCHOOLS DRAMA FESTIVAL, MR LI SAID.

THE FESTIVAL HAS THE FINANCIAL BACKING OF THE LOK SIN TONG BENEVOLENT SOCIETY WHICH HAS PLEDGED AN ANNUAL DONATION OF $500,000 TOWARDS ITS DEVELOPMENT, HE SAID.

THIS DONATION IS IN ADDITION ΤΟ THE $200,000 WHICH WAS PRESENTED TO MR LI TODAY IN SUPPORT OF THIS YEAR'S ENGLISH DRAMA PROJECT.

"THE DRAMA PROJECTS WERE HELD TO PROVIDE STUDENTS WITH AN EXCITING AND INTERESTING FOCUS FOR ENGLISH AND CHINESE LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM, HE SAID.

H

MR LI ADDED THAT DRAMA IS A VERY GOOD CHANNEL FOR DEVELOPING CREATIVE AND IMAGINATIVE EXPRESSION AND IMPROVING STUDENTS' LANGUAGE SKILLS.

LI

SPEAKING IN LAUNCHING THE 1990 ENGLISH DRAMA PROJECT, MR SAID A SCHOOLS DRAMA COUNCIL WILL BE SET UP TO ADVISE THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT ON THE ORGANISATION OF THE SCHOOLS DRAMA FESTIVAL.

MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL WILL INCLUDE REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE LOK SIN TONG BENEVOLENT SOCIETY, WHICH IS WELL-KNOWN FOR ITS LONG HISTORY IN PROMOTING THE WELFARE OF THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG AND IN EDUCATION, THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT, DRAMA EXPERTS, SCHOOL HEADS AND OTHER ORGANISATIONS INTERESTED IN PROMOTING DRAMA IN SCHOOLS.

DRAMA, MR LI SAID, IS AN INTEGRATED ART WHICH CAN MERGE THE TALENTS FROM DIFFERENT SUBJECT DISCIPLINES SUCH AS MUSIC, ARTS, DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY, AND EVEN DOMESTIC SCIENCE.

HE SAID DRAMA MADE ITS DEBUT IN THE FORM OF AN ENGLISH DRAMA PROJECT, SPONSORED BY THE HONG KONG LANGUAGE CAMPAIGN, WAS INTRODUCED LAST YEAR WITH 30 SCHOOLS TAKING PART.

THE ACHIEVEMENT WAS REMARKABLE AND THE PERFORMANCES WELL RECEIVED THAT IT WAS DECIDED TO INCLUDE CHINESE DRAMA.

"THIRTY-THREE SCHOOLS HAVE BEEN SELECTED TO TAKE PART

YEAR'S ENGLISH COMPETITION, MR LI SAID.

WERE SO

IN THIS

APART FROM A CASH GRANT OF $1,000 TO EACH PARTICIPATING SCHOOL TOWARDS THE COST OF PRODUCING A PLAY, ASSISTANCE IN SCRIPT WRITING, PRODUCTION OF PLAY AS WELL AS TRAINING AND OUT-REACHING SERVICES WILL BE PROVIDED BY THE HONG KONG ACADEMY FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS.

!

/TEACHERS OF