ENG-1996 — Page 190

EDUCATION

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Development Council; the Private Schools Review Committee; and advisory committees on home-school co-operation, school administration and finance, school guidance and support services, and school places allocation systems. Other members have experience in kindergartens, special schools, school administration, teaching, teacher training, tertiary education, business and other professions. Two government officials sit on the board: the Director of Education as vice-chairman, and the Deputy Secretary for Education and Manpower.

During the year, the board's Sub-committee on Special Education completed its review on special education services and proposed comprehensive measures for improvement. The Sub-Committee on Review of School Education, set up in 1995, continued its review on the implementation of compulsory education.

Curriculum Development Council

The Curriculum Development Council (CDC) is appointed by the Governor to advise the government, through the Director of Education, on matters relating to school curriculum development from kindergarten to the sixth form. It has a three-tier structure and operates through a system of co-ordinating committees and subject committees. Membership of the CDC and its co-ordinating and subject committees includes heads of schools, teachers, tertiary academics, the Hong Kong Examinations Authority representatives, parents and employers.

During the year, the CDC completed research on Chinese handwriting at kindergarten level and the teaching methods of Putonghua used in schools. It also developed new curriculum guides on special and pre-primary education, revised the guidelines on civic education and identified new curriculum needs to meet the changing needs of the community including the teaching of Putonghua as a core subject and civic education as an independent subject.

Standing Committee on Language Education and Research

The Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (SCOLAR) is a non- statutory body set up on October 1, 1996, upon the recommendation of the Education Commission Report No. 6, to advise the government on language education issues in general, and in particular, to set goals for language learning at different levels of education, to propose specific language attainment targets at each stage of education, and to identify research and development projects which are necessary for the enhancement of language proficiency and language in education. SCOLAR has 20 members, of whom 18 are appointed from outside the government. The two government members are the Deputy Secretary for Education and Manpower and the Deputy Director of Education. Other members include educators/administrators from the tertiary, secondary, primary and pre-primary education sectors, language experts, businessmen and employers, as well as professionals from other sectors.

With the subsuming of the Language Fund Advisory Committee under SCOLAR in October 1996, SCOLAR oversees the management of the Language Fund for the enhancement of language education in Hong Kong. Projects to enhance language standards in Chinese (including Putonghua) and English in Hong Kong will continue to be funded under the auspices of the Language Fund which has hitherto committed over $140.19 million for 110 projects.