TNAG-1073-FCO40-1323-Policy-of-the-Government-of-Hong-Kong-on-education-including-1981 — Page 470

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school pupils. General SSPA allocation is carried out in July, but

pupils who have a genuine interest in prevocational education may

apply to these schools earlier, and those accepted are not allocated

to other schools in the general allocation.

14.

The SSPA has recently undergone review by a working party of

officials and unofficials, which has taken into account the views and

representations of numerous schools and individuals, based on their

first three years' experience of the scheme. These are of relevance in

revealing not only prevalent attitudes to selection and allocation but

also the direct and indirect effects of this type of scheme on curricula

and teaching styles. The representations reveal a small but influential

minority in favour of abolishing the SSPA and replacing it by a public

examination on the lines of the former SSEE, a common reason being a belief

that the AAT has caused a general decline in standards

particularly in

English. Some have asserted that the AAT has caused unnecessary pressure

on pupils because they are drilled for it even though there is no 'syllabus'

and teachers have difficulty in finding practical material. On the other

hand some have found the AAT too 'easy' and believe that it is killing the

incentive to work hard. Internal assessments are welcomed by many but

thought by others to be open to malpractice. Views are divided on the

school net system: those in favour of regionalisation have complained that

the good intentions of the system have been offset by the unfairness created

by the artificial grouping of unevenly distributed secondary schools and

would like sufficient secondary schools to be built in each school area;

those against hold the view that some areas have very few popular schools,

if any at all, and so deprive parents of any real choice: parents in

the New Territories, in particular, do not want their children to be

permanently tied down to rural secondary schools. On the feeder and

nominated schools system views are equally split. Generally, sponsoring

bodies, heads and parents of schools already included in these systems

voice their support and demand further expansion of the schemes; those

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