ENG-2000 — Page 204

EDUCATION

160

June 1999. Over 300 nominations were received and the results will be announced in the second quarter of 2001.

Education for Newly Arrived Children and Youngsters

The Education Department subvents non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in operating an induction programme for newly arrived children (NAC) of school age from the Mainland to help them adapt to the local social and school environment. A self-learning package on the English Language has been produced and distributed to schools and NGOs for use by these children. Tests on Chinese Language, English Language and Mathematics are provided to help schools assess the standard of the children for admission to Primary 2 to Secondary 4 levels. Teachers are advised on tailoring the curricula in the subjects of Chinese Language and English Language for Primary 1 to Secondary 3 new arrival students.

A school-based support scheme was introduced in September 1997 to help these children integrate into the local education system. A block grant is given to public sector schools with intake of NAC from the Mainland. Schools can use this block grant to provide school-based services for the children such as organising tutorial classes or extra-curricular activities, developing special teaching material and acquiring specific resource material. Since April, the rate of grant has been revised to $2,750 per pupil at primary level and $4,080 at secondary level. From the 2000-01 school year, the induction programme and the school-based support scheme have also been extended to include non-Chinese speaking children as well as returnee children. Since March, a full-time, six-month initiation programme has been introduced as an additional mode of post-arrival service for newly arrived Mainland children. The programme aims at strengthening basic learning skills and fostering personal development and social adaptation of the children before they enrol into mainstream schools.

To increase educational opportunities for newly arrived youngsters aged 15 or above, since September 1996 the age for admission to all adult education programmes and courses has been lowered from 18 to 15.

Home-School Co-operation

The Government is dedicated to the promotion of home-school co-operation, which is a vital element in quality education. With the continued efforts of the Committee on Home-School Co-operation, set up in 1993 on the recommendation of the Education Commission, the number of Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) has increased to over 950 in the 2000-2001 school year. In 2000, the committee organised a wide variety of activities including a TV series on parent education, a parent education column in its home page, various promotion activities and training programmes for PTAs as well as a 'Parent-Also-Appreciate-Teacher' Drive.

The Chief Executive announced in October that the Government had set aside $50 million to strengthen parent education and to encourage parents to participate in educational affairs. A Steering Committee, chaired by the Director of Education, was set up to co-ordinate the Government's efforts in promoting parent education. The Education Department, Department of Health and Social Welfare Department will collaborate to produce, for parents and child-care workers, reference materials featuring children's physical, psychological and intellectual development.