through patient discussion, planning and practice can provide experience out of which may arise initiative, foresight, an urge for creativity and an ability to improvise. Technical drawing develops spatial perception and exercises the ability to solve problems of a three dimensional character. Craft subjects in particular help pupils to acquire a sound standard of values, to discern good taste and through creative experience in several different media and with a variety of tools, to attain poise and self-confidence. Technical subjects moreover can be used to integrate much of the curriculum thus metal work links mathe- matics, physics, chemistry, mechanics and geography and may be regarded as an applied science.
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3.6. A further advantage in the use of technical subjects in the curriculum, is that they have a vocational 'portent' and constitute a part preparation for ultimate employment. The dual stimulus of pursuing the subject(s) one likes best and the fact that this could lead to future employment is often sufficient to completely outweigh examination and course worries, certainly the downfall of many of the less able students.
3.7. The culmination of the virtues of the secondary technical approach come to full fruition in the sixth form. True there is a limitation on certain practical subjects which arises from the University entrance requirements, but the usual academic approach can be leavened and broadened by the introduction of technical and other applied subjects which enable a bridge to be established with the industrial world outside the school. The utility and value of practical subjects such as chemistry and physics can also be enhanced and a students ability to improvise and innovate be encouraged by giving an applied character to them. The syllabus of physics-with-electronics is a case in point, but also heat concepts in physics can be investigated through a study of certain practical problems in heat engines in the local technical college. Adventures of this kind into structures, measurement, strength of materials, metallurgy, electrical machines and so on can provide stimulating experiences that provide a glimpse both of the way ahead and of the immediate practicality of a student's work.
3.8. Examined against the above background the existing secondary technical schools tend to give the impression of a grammar school curriculum 'modified' by the introduction of technical subjects in part to provide against the student having to seek employment if he fails to acquire a school certificate and in part in an earnest endeavour to establish the character of the school. The over-riding need to meet an academic examination target and the fact that present syllabuses preclude offering 'A' level subjects in technical disciplines which will prove acceptable to the University of Hong Kong, both militate against the success of these schools; particularly when coupled with the inherent distrust with which they are viewed by parents. A new approach is called for and it is suggested that consideration be given to the introduction of the type of scheme shown at Appendix 3. Clearly, in this scheme, the Junior Secondary School provides a diagnostic period when students are exposed to a wide range of subjects. The first year of the Senior Secondary course sees a grouping into technical, commercial and agricultural subject areas with a common core of basic subjects, whilst in years four and five, the students are allocated to streams according to their abilities, aptitudes and the desires of their parents. In the sixth form are suggested groupings of subjects which may prove acceptable to the University of Hong Kong authorities. The syllabuses in all cases are those of the Associated Examining Board of the United Kingdom modified where necessary to meet local requirements.
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