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Education

discretionary places and parents may apply direct to not more than two participating schools. in any district. The schools' remaining places, after deducting discretionary and repeater places, are used for central allocation, of which 10 per cent are meant for parents to make not more than three unrestricted school choices from any school net, while 90 per cent are for parents to make a maximum of 30 restricted school choices from the school net to which their child belongs.

Students completing junior secondary education normally remain in the same school for their senior secondary education or attend full-time, fully subvented vocational training courses run by the VTC.

The Task Force on Review of School Curriculum conducted a public consultation between June and October 2019 to gauge public views on initial recommendations grouped under six directions, namely whole-person development, values education, creating space and catering for learner diversity, Applied Learning (APL), university admissions, and science, technology, engineering and mathematics education. It plans to submit a final report with directional recommendations to the government in 2020.

Senior Secondary Curriculum

The senior secondary curriculum is flexible, coherent and diversified. It aims to cater for students' varied interests, needs, aptitudes and abilities. Students take four core subjects, namely Chinese Language, English Language, Mathematics and Liberal Studies, and acquire Other Learning Experiences. Most students also choose two or three elective subjects from 20 senior secondary subjects, a range of ApL courses and six Other Languages.

ApL courses are introduced at Secondary 5 and 6. They place equal emphasis on practice and theory linked to broad professional and vocational fields. In the 2019-21 cohort, 39 ApL courses are offered under six areas of studies: Creative Studies; Media and Communication; Business, Management and Law; Services; Applied Science; and Engineering and Production.

On completion of their study at Secondary 6, students take the HKDSE Examination. This certification receives worldwide recognition. Over 280 tertiary institutions globally, including renowned schools, recognise the qualification for admission purposes, and more are being added.

In 2018, about 91 per cent of Secondary 6 graduates pursued further full-time studies, among whom about 10 per cent studied outside Hong Kong.

Chinese History Education

Chinese history is an integral part of the curriculum for all primary and secondary schools. Learning content on the Chinese nation, Chinese history and Chinese culture is included in the General Studies subject at primary level. At junior secondary level, all schools should offer Chinese History as an independent compulsory subject from 2018-19, and devote two periods per week to Chinese History. At senior secondary level, Chinese History is an elective subject. To enhance students' interest in learning the subject, the revised Junior Secondary Chinese

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