TNAG-1073-FCO40-1323-Policy-of-the-Government-of-Hong-Kong-on-education-including-1981 — Page 363

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being to monitor its implementation with a view to suggesting to the

subject committees whatever modifications appear to be necessary or

desirable. After the trial period has been completed and all adjustments

approved, the new curriculum is then issued in the form of a suggested

syllabus. There is no compulsion upon a school to follow the suggested

syllabus, provided any proposed alternative syllabuses are acceptable

to the Director: however, since the more reputable textbook publishers

base their books (with the active encouragement of the Department) on the

suggested syllabuses, most schools accept that the suggested syllabuses,

together with their supporting resource materials, offer a sound approach

to teaching.

7.15

At one time the existence of separate teaching and examination

syllabuses presented a serious obstacle to curriculum development, since

many schools disregarded the suggested teaching syllabuses and simply

followed the examination syllabuses. This resulted in undue and

premature emphasis on examination techniques and examination-centred

teaching: in the worst cases, subjects which were not examined were

omitted from the curriculum because they were thought to distract the

school.from its main task. Although examinations are still dominant, for

reasons explained at the beginning of this chapter, their pernicious.

effect on the curriculum has been controlled with a reasonable degree

of success in recent years as a result of the close co-operation and

consultation which has developed between CDC and HKEA subject committees.

By and large the HKCE examinations are now closely influenced by the

school curriculum, rather than the reverse. The two selection and

allocation schemes under the control of the Education Department (the

Secondary School Places Allocation scheme and the Junior Secondary

Education Assessment scheme) have been devised as curriculum-oriented

processes for which the most effective preparation is good teaching on

the lines of the CDC recommended syllabuses that is, they should

facilitate rather than inhibit sound teaching and make examination