ENG-1984 — Page 175

EDUCATION

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Technical and Commercial Subjects During the year, technical subjects, as part of the general curriculum for secondary schools, continued to expand at both Form 1-3 and Form 4-5 levels. The Technical Subjects Section was involved in the planning of new workshops and in modifying and improving existing ones to meet requirements for the teaching of technical subjects. Several new subject disciplines have been created for prevocational schools including marine engineer- ing, light engineering metal work and jewellery.

In conjunction with the Technical Teachers' College, the Technical Subjects Section produced a comprehensive programme of in-service courses for technical teachers and these were well attended. The section continued to organise the Young Hong Kong Designer of the Year Award under the sponsorship of the Hong Kong Federation of Industries. Response from schools was excellent.

With the rapid growth of commercial subjects in schools, books specially written for the Curriculum Development Committee's Principles of Accounts and Commerce syllabuses were produced locally for the first time. A number of in-service courses on the teaching of commercial subjects were organised by the Commercial Subjects Section.

The Commerce Projects Competition was again organised jointly by the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society and the Education Department. About 1 000 senior secondary pupils took part. An exhibition, displaying all the winning and commended projects, was well attended by teachers and students.

Community Youth Club

The Community Youth Club, established in 1977, has continued to participate actively in building up a strong community spirit and in promoting civic-mindedness among students. Its 120 000 members contributed substantially to various public campaigns. With the addition of three more districts during the year, there are now 17 district committees co-ordinating the club's activities.

Thousands of members gained awards under the Merit Award Scheme which required them to set examples of good citizenship by offering services to the community. Outstand- ing members were selected for an educational tour to Japan at the end of 1984.

School Library Services

School library services expanded with the training of more librarians in secondary schools. In primary schools, following the success of two pilot projects, the Class Library Scheme was fully implemented in Primary 3 to Primary 6 classes in all government and aided primary schools in September, while a pilot project was introduced for Primary 1 and 2 classes. Each class is provided with an initial grant of $500 for bookcases and $10 per pupil per year for library books.

During the year, one three-day workshop on school library practice was organised for trained school librarians, while three seminars for 450 primary school heads and teachers, 18 training courses for 850 primary school teachers, and an exhibition on children's books were held in connection with the Class Library Scheme.

Educational Television

Programmes produced by the Educational Television Service (ETV) are regarded as the most useful audio-visual supplement to classroom teaching and regular viewing has become a normal part of school life in Hong Kong. The total audience of ETV programmes during 1983-4 was estimated to be 350 000 primary and 240 000 secondary school pupils.