ENG-2005 — Page 206

168 Education

Supported by the Quality Education Fund, Hong Kong Education City (HKEdCity) was launched in August 2000 to promote quality education and IT for lifelong and life-wide learning. It quickly became one of the most popular education portals in Hong Kong and was corporatised in 2002. HKEdCity will continue to strengthen its role as an agent for sourcing, editing and disseminating digital education resources, with the support of teachers, experts, and the private sector.

Language Education

The Standing Committee on Language Education and Research, known as SCOLAR, was set up in 1996 to advise the Government on language education issues in general. The committee identifies research and development projects necessary for the enhancement of language proficiency, and advises the Trustee of the Language Fund on the policy and procedures governing the operation of the fund, which was set up in 1994. By year-end, the fund had committed about $1.09 billion for 305 approved projects aimed at enhancing the language proficiency of the population. These language learning, public education, resource development, teacher training and research projects are conducted by a range of organisations, including local tertiary institutions, post-secondary colleges, schools, educational and professional bodies and government departments.

Native-speaking English Teacher Scheme

The Native-speaking English Teacher (NET) Scheme, which was launched in 1998, has been introduced in all public sector secondary schools. It was extended to public primary schools in 2002. In addition to teaching, NETS also help change teaching practices by working with local English teachers to make the learning of English more interesting. At present, about 470 NETS are serving in secondary schools, and some 310 in primary schools. More NETS are being recruited to support English teaching in primary schools.

Professional Development at Schools

Teachers' Professional Development

Following the issue of the Teacher Competencies Framework and Teachers' Continuing Professional Development document in November 2003, the Advisory Committee on Teacher Education and Qualifications set up a Steering Committee on teachers' professional development to disseminate good practices and provide support to teachers, principals and the school management in developing their school-based professional development policy. An interim report on the development and progress of professional development since the introduction of the document is being prepared. The advisory committee, has undertaken to further examine pre- service teacher education involving relevant stakeholders, including schools and teacher education institutions. Progress has been made in mapping out the professional requirements for an internship scheme to support the professional development of beginner teachers. A small-scale pilot project is being conducted in the 2005-06 school year to field-test professional requirements.