ENG-1992 — Page 153

EDUCATION

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All teaching posts in primary schools are in non-graduate ranks. The primary pupil: teacher ratio is about 27:1, and the staffing ratio is 1.2 teachers per class. This allows for remedial teaching to help slow-learning pupils. Additional teachers may be provided so the school can operate revised resource classes for pupils in need of special educational help.

Chinese is the language of instruction in most primary schools, with English taught as a second language. In many schools Putonghua is taught as either a timetabled subject or an after-school activity. A few schools use English as the language of instruction.

As recommended in the Education Commission's Report No. 4, a framework of teaching targets and target-related assessments (TTRA) has been developed to set a clearer direction for teaching, learning and assessment. The TTRA initiative will be introduced first to primary schools in the three basic subjects of Chinese, English and mathematics. Seminars were held for all primary school heads, and teachers taking classes at Primary 4 to Primary 6, to prepare them for implementing TTRA at Primary 4 level in 1993.

The class library scheme provides supplementary reading materials for pupils to support classroom learning, promote a more exploratory approach to learning, develop the habit of leisure reading, and pave the way for effective use of the library in secondary schools. A reading award scheme is organised annually for Primary 5 and 6 students, and a booklet containing the winning book reports is issued to all schools. In 1992, 44 000 students from 227 primary schools took part in the scheme.

At the end of the primary course, pupils are allocated to government or aided secondary schools, or to private schools with bought places. The Secondary School Places Allocation System is based on internal school assessments, scaled by a centrally administered academic aptitude test, and on parental choice. For allocation purposes the territory is divided into 19 school nets. A total of 84 696 primary pupils took part in the 1992 allo- cation, of whom 74 549 (88.02 per cent) found places in government and aided grammar schools, 4 886 (5.77 per cent) in prevocational schools, and 5 261 (6.21 per cent) in private schools in the Bought Place Scheme (BPS).

Secondary Schools

In 1978 universal free education was extended to junior secondary classes. The policy for public sector provision after Secondary 3 is broadly to meet the demand for places on a senior secondary or vocational course. In 1992 the number of subsidised Secondary 4 places was equivalent to 82 per cent of the 15-year-old population, with places for a further eight per cent on full-time craft courses of vocational training. The target for sixth form education is to provide one public sector Secondary 6 place for every three public sector Secondary 4 places two years earlier.

Secondary 3 leavers are selected for subsidised places in Secondary 4 or on a vocational course according to internal school assessments and parental preference. One objective of the selection process is to enable as many students as possible to progress to Secondary 4 within the same school. In 1992, 74 748 students took part in the process, of whom 63 253 secured a Secondary 4 place and 3 999 were admitted to craft courses.

The Secondary 6 admission procedure introduced in 1991 was expanded to include sixth form places in prevocational and BPS schools. Over 99.5 per cent of the 21 993 places available were filled.

To meet provision targets new secondary schools are built and places are bought from private schools. During the year, seven new secondary schools were completed, providing