ENG-1994 — Page 198

EDUCATION

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special schools (including a hospital school) for children who are blind, deaf, physically handicapped, mentally handicapped, maladjusted or socially deprived. Seventeen schools provide residential places. In addition to teachers, the special schools are staffed by specialists such as educational psychologists, speech therapists, physiotherapists, occupa- tional therapists, school nurses and social workers.

Special education classes in ordinary schools cater for partially-sighted and partially- hearing children, and children with learning difficulties. Services for children integrated into ordinary classes include school-based or centre-based intensive remedial support in the basic subjects, behavioural guidance to children and advice to teachers on how to help children with special needs. In 1994, a home-based teaching programme was introduced to enable children who were home-bound for health reasons to continue their education. A school-based remedial support programme was also implemented to support secondary schools with a high intake of academically less-able students. These schools were given greater flexibility and additional manpower to operate remedial services for their students. In general, special schools and classes follow the ordinary school curriculum, with adaptations or special syllabuses where appropriate to cater for the varied learning needs of the children. The Curriculum Development Council's special education co-ordinating committee, with members from government departments and schools, advises on special educational needs. Special schools give particular attention to daily living skills, and offer extra-curricular activities to enrich the practical life experiences of day and residential - pupils.

During the year, a research project on the identification of academically-gifted children was commissioned, and planning proceeded for a resource centre for such children. A school support scheme providing school-based psychological services to secondary schools was also introduced.

Practical schools offer a curriculum with a practical orientation for junior secondary students who are unmotivated towards the common-core curriculum. They help students develop their interest and motivation in studying, and prepare them for further studies in vocational training or senior secondary education. Skills opportunity schools cater for students with severe learning difficulties. Students are helped to acquire basic social, independent and vocational skills through a tailor-made curriculum. In 1994, two practical schools provided 900 places, and one skills opportunity school provided 300 places. Further schools were being planned.

International Schools

In keeping with Hong Kong's international character, a number of schools offer curricula designed to meet the needs of particular cultural or linguistic groups.

The English Schools Foundation (ESF) operates nine primary schools (known as junior schools) and five secondary schools for children whose first language is English, and a special education school for English-speaking pupils with moderate to severe learning difficulties. The education provided is similar in content and method to that available in Britain, and leads to British public examinations. The ESF receives public grants based on grants paid to local aided schools, and charges fees to meet additional costs.

Other international schools provide education on American, Canadian, French, Japanese, Swiss-German, Singaporean and Korean patterns. In 1994, there were 18 such schools