TNAG-1073-FCO40-1323-Policy-of-the-Government-of-Hong-Kong-on-education-including-1981 — Page 362

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few cases where banning is justified). Schools in which commercial

considerations predominate tend to reject any advice offered by the

Department on the choice of textbooks, however vigorously the matter may

be pursued. In spite of occasional indignant complaints about the lack

of Departmental control in such cases there is little beyond persuasion

that can be done certainly, greater legal control would be difficult

to achieve without seriously infringing normal business practices and

the principle of freedom of choice. Fortunately, professionalism in

education appears to be developing in line with the expansion of the

public sector and low standards are gradually being eliminated as the

result of a more widespread professional awareness.

Curriculum development

7.14

The Curriculum Development Committee (CDC) provides the focal

point for the work of the Advisory Inspectorate and is at the core of the Department's activities to promote quality in teaching.

The CDC

was set up in 1970 to replace the old Syllabuses and Textbooks Committee,

its status being that of a non-statutory advisory committee appointed to

advise the Director on the school curriculum and closely related matters

(such as supporting resource materials). its membership has been drawn

up to cover a cross-section of the educational community both public and

private, from pre-school to higher education, and including representatives

of such bodies as the Hong Kong examinations Authority (HKEA) and the

teachers' unions. The CDC advises on the general approach and direction

of school curricula, with detailed syllabuses and curriculum guides

developed for each school subject or subject-group by specialist committees.

These committees (like the subject panels of the Textbooks Committee)

include practising teachers from a wide variety of institutions, with

inspectors providing a nucleus of staff. The material produced is issued

to schools, subject to the approval of the CDC, for use - initially on

a trial basis, an important function of the Inspectorate at this stage

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